


Fix Me

by JustALittleBitMeh



Category: Pocket Monsters: Gold & Silver & Crystal | Pokemon Gold Silver Crystal Versions, Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Angst, Blood, F/M, Fluff, Haha childhood trauma go brr, Happy Ending for all, I think that's it - Freeform, I'm definitely reworking some stuff after I finish, I'm stupid and don't know what I'm doing here, Past Child Abuse, This fic is pretty old I technically started on uhh July 2018 so yeah, Violence, mewtwo is big mad yet again, oh boy tags, oh yeah also there is, uhh idk what else to put here without spoiling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 40,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27345217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustALittleBitMeh/pseuds/JustALittleBitMeh
Summary: "Goldenrod girls don't play with playboys."----------------------------------------------------------You're a 15-year-old girl just leaving your home in Goldenrod City for the first time. After finding out you were switched at birth, you set out on a journey to find your real family. It's a simple goal, really, until you bump into Gold.He spins you off your track, into places you've never even heard of. Now while trying to find your way again, you have to juggle all sorts of things; new friends, annoying battles, the wilderness of Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto, and one pesky playboy; all while dealing with your own struggles. And what is with that man who keeps following you?----------------------------------------------------------"I still love you.""I wish I could love you back."
Relationships: Gold (Pokemon Adventures)/Reader, Hibiki | Ethan/Reader
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> God I forgot I wrote this all on my phone so the formatting for people using wide screens is gonna be awful looking. I am a mess. But yeah everything's cringe and I'm gonna rewrite everything someday.

"(Name)?! What are you doing in there?!" Your father pounded the door to your bedroom. You must not have heard the first time he called you and now he was upset. You didn't exactly like him, as he had never really liked you, acting passive-aggressive with you. You could never understand why.

"Nothing! Just playing with Sableye!" You yelled back. Sableye was your best friend. You found him as an egg when you were five, and here the two of you are, ten years later, practically brother and sister.

**(If you don't like Sableye, here's why I picked him; he's a small, shoulder-sized companion with prankster, and a bunch of status moves to protect you, and he has a mega evolution. According to the Pokémon anime, he has a bit of telekinetic power. He seems like the type to be very funny and joke around a lot, but get serious when it comes to protecting his trainer. I also feel he's a little under appreciated but that could just be me.)**

"Well get your butt downstairs! It's time for breakfast!" With that your father left. You sighed, poking and playing with Sableye's Sablenite. He had accidentally eaten it one day thinking it was a topaz, and a week later it had grown out of his back. Now it was a part of him. You had gotten that Sablenite for him for his fifth birthday, and you were upset that he ate it, but calmed down a little after seeing it in his back a month later.

It slightly annoyed the poor guy whenever you played with the Sablenite (possibly because it was a reminder of what he did) so in return, he'd go and touch your keystone. You pulled back from him, whining. "Sableye stop, you're gonna ruin my hair."

Yes, just like Sableye, you had an accident of your own. One day, you were running upstairs after Sableye, because he stole your sock. You almost grabbed it, when you slipped and fell forwards, the keystone drawing closer to your eye as you hit the sharp edge of the stairs. You were screaming and crying for hours. After three surgical hospital visits, your eye couldn't be saved, and the keystone, which was originally on the necklace you were wearing that day, would now and forever replace your right eye.

It was so weird, and people would stare and/or harass and laugh at you when they saw it, so you decided to hide it instead behind some (hair color) bangs. People at school didn't like you.

You...you weren't one for friends. Cameron was your only human friend. He was a few years older than you, and worked at the casino. He was your neighbor, and had an Umbreon at home. Umbreon and Sableye were best friends.

Sableye popped onto your shoulder, like he always would when going anywhere. You descend the stairs and head for the dining room. You immediately spot a stack of pancakes, and a healthy portion of rubies for your Pokémon pal. He hopped off your shoulder and landed in his raised seat and sits down, breaking down the gemstone with his sharp teeth.

He was finished and full by the time you were halfway done, and you giggled. "You're gonna give yourself the hiccups if you eat too fast." He just shrugged and smiled, clearly proud of himself for eating the whole thing.

You could hear a loud whisper from the kitchen, "we can't tell her, Richard!!" It was your mother's voice.

Confused, you stood out of your chair and snuck closer to listen in. _Tell me what?_ You wondered.

"Jane, she's fifteen. How long are we going to wait? Are we going to tell her when she's twenty? Thirty? In her fifties? A full hundred?!"

"She's too young to comprehend it! We'll tell her next year!"

"Oh my Arceus, you're doing it again!! You've been telling me 'next year, next year, next year, next damn year'!! She's turned fifteen, she deserves to know, and I'm done waiting. I'm telling her now."

This was your cue to sit back in your chair. Seconds later, your dad popped his head through the kitchen archway, "(Name), there's something your mother and I have been wanting to tell you. For a while, now at least." He states, arms crossed.

"Richard, no..." Your mother breathes, reaching out to touch your father's forearm.

He gently pulled away, giving her a warning look. He turns back to you, "before I tell you anything, please promise you won't go all Zubat crazy, right?" He asks. His eyes look fresh, like they were finally going to be relieved of some guilt. He waits, tapping his foot.

"Uhhhh yeahhhh......" You give him a look of suspicion. "You're not sending me away, are you...?" Sableye gets into a protective stance and stands next to you. He wouldn't let you leave, at least not without him.

"What? No, in fact all we have to tell you is--"

Surprisingly, your father is cut off by your mother, unable to hold back anymore, "you were switched with someone else's child at birth!!" She cries.

You felt like someone had stabbed you, then twisted the knife while it was still in you. Silence hung in the air as you process everything. After a good five minutes a sputtery voice came from your throat, "I'm...I-I'm not your real daughter?" Tears pricked your eyes.

"No...we had a son, actually. Someone had a mix-up, and we ended up with you instead. The parents who took our son must not have known the gender of their child, and accepted him. All we know is that whoever switched places with you lives in Kanto, and that if you were a girl they would name you (Name). If it was a boy it would've been Jasper." Your mother states, sighing at the end.

There's another long pause, and minutes tick by until you softly speak up, still completely shocked, but at the same time, it did make a bit of sense, how you didn't have the same hair color as them, or how you had a slightly (darker/lighter) skin tone than they did. "I...I-I wanna see my real parents. My real mom and dad."

"Oh my little Cherubi, we live in Johto, not Kanto. It's a long way away from Kanto. We need to work for our electricity and food and shelter too, so we can't take you." Your mother frowned. "Besides, you're safe here with us, and I still love you like you were my own daughter."

You can hear your father mutter, "but she's not our real child." He sounded angry, but you seemed to be the only one who heard him. Sableye flattened his ears, hissing.

You furrowed your brows in response. "Goldenrod City isn't as far from the border of Kanto as it could be. I can go and come back, it shouldn't take more than a month."

"We can't let you travel out there by yourself! That's insane! You're too young!" Your father yells.

"So?! There are kids barely ten out there exploring the world with nothing but a leaf! I'm sure Sableye can protect me just fine." You reply, angry at your dad.

"That puny thing won't protect you from squat! There are bandits, crooks, and predators in the real world, and that Sableye won't save you from them." He shakes a finger at you, poking you harshly in the chest for every emphasized word.

"Richard that's enough..." Your mother mutters sweetly, trying to tug him away. He rips his arm out of her grip and glares at her.

"How DARE you insult him like that?!" You cry, holding Sableye in your arms. Nobody insulted your Pokémon like that. "He's level 23, and plenty strong enough to take care of me! Why can't you just let me see my real parents?! So what if I don't know where they are, I'll find them!" You turn to your dad, "it's not like you care about me anyway!!" You shriek. Before anyone can talk, you run upstairs and slam the door to your bedroom. Not that hard, but hard enough to make a noise. You put Sableye down before flopping onto your bed, giving out a heavy breath of exasperation. Your breathing slowed down to occasional scoffs of frustration when you thought of the conversation that just went down.

You could hear some jumbled noises from down the hall, and zoned in, "Jane, leave her be. She's just received the biggest news of her life, and needs some space. I'm sure she'll be all better by tomorrow morning." You could hear your father's voice.

"Yeah but...I'm worried about her."

"I only told her to stay because I want you to be happy, but you really shouldn't care, she's not your real daughter anyway."

Quiet sobbing followed, "you just don't get it, Richard." Footsteps headed downstairs.

 _Yeah, I'll be better by tomorrow morning._ You think bitterly, rolling onto your back and staring at the ceiling. _Because I'll be gone by then._  
  


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:0

This is the first installation to my new series, I hope you all like it :D

I'm not sure if Gold/Ethan/Jimmy(?) is still a person people are interested in shipping someone/thing with but........*shrugs slowly* ehhhhhhh--?

Throwing this out there just in case :3

My goal is to cram at least 1k (a thousand) (1,000) words into every chapter :)

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	2. Chapter 2

What is work text? Hopefully I can figure out everything on this site soon :')


	3. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this cringey stuff is gonna be here until uhhh *looks* chapter 29. I'm crying.

You lay in bed, wide-awake, with Sableye comfortably settled between your head and right shoulder. You couldn't sleep, excitement rushing through your veins. _Should I run away? I mean, I have shelter and a guaranteed food source here, but..._ Your mind was racing, contemplating on what to do.

 _It's decided then, I really want to see my real parents. Who knows, maybe I already have a sibling!_ You stand up, trying not to wake Sableye. You grab your school backpack and empty it onto your bed to make less noise. You pack two sets of spare clothes, a comb, and all your savings as emergency money.

Next you scuttled into the bathroom. By then, you had waken up Sableye and he was tiredly perched on your shoulder, leaning against your head as he prepared to sleep. He clung to your shirt so he wouldn't fall off. _So cute!_ you smile. Meanwhile, you snagged your toothbrush and a tube of travel toothpaste. You grabbed a small first-aid kit, including some burn, ice, poison, and paralyze heals for Sableye. Hey, you can never be too safe.

"Hey bud, I'm grabbing us some snacks and the folding tent from the closet, then we can leave." You whisper to your Sableye. You were going to pack the tent first because shelter is great for protection in the wild. It was basically four sturdy rods with fabric attached that made a pyramid shaped tent when you unfolded them. It even came with a bag to put it in. You grabbed it out of the downstairs closet before packing some water bottles, packaged and canned food, and some assorted gems for Sableye, who claims all gems taste different.

Finally you were ready. You opened the door, took one last look at your home, and left, closing the door. "Bye mom and dad," you whispered.

Sableye seemed a little upset at first but climbed down into your arms for you to carry him while he slept. You smiled and headed for the casino. _The casino works late on Sundays, I'll catch Cameron and ask him for some help._

When you arrived, Cameron looked up and waved at you, smiling. "Hey there Rookie, where are your parents? Isn't it a bit late?" He chuckles before resuming his business. He was polishing a counter.

You rolled your eyes. Rookie was a dumb nickname he gave you, after you tried to play a game of pool against him. Well he was ten and you were seven, you were bound to lose. Not to mention all you knew was 'knock the white ball against everything and hope you win'. "Cam, I'm running away from home. Any tips?"

He frowns. "Well, I don't have tips; I haven't been out much." He sends out his Umbreon to hangout with Sableye, who immediately woke up and began to play with the yellow-ringed Pokémon. "However, my uncle is a gym leader in Kalos. He gave me this utility belt for my birthday last year but I don't think I want to become a trainer or anything. Umbreon is all I need." He smiles at said Pokémon, who barks happily before resuming his play. "I can grab it for you if you need it, it's got a Great ball and ten Pokéballs, in a pouch on the right and clips on the left to hold occupied ones."

"I'd like that, thank you." You smile.

Cameron nods, "it could take a while, but it's in the back. Don't move." He heads through the double doors in the back and disappears.

After about 20 seconds of waiting, a boy your age approaches you. He has raven hair swept up into his yellow and black cap, a red coat, and charming golden eyes. "Well, I didn't know sexy girls like you live around here. What's your name?" He attempts to flirt, reaching for your hand.

You pull back, "well I'm (Name) and don't fucking touch me please." You were tired and did _not_ want to be bothered. You'd be wandering away for at least a few more hours before you could safely rest.

"Woah, calm down, I'm not going to try anything." He lets out a scoff.

You glare fire into his soul _doesn't he know you should never tell a pissed woman to calm down?!_ You curl your hands into fists, ready to bury them into his face any moment. "I'll have you know, Goldenrod girls don't play with playboys."

"How'd you guess?" He looks shocked.

You roll your eyes at his stupidity. "Everybody knows you're the Champion of both Kanto and Johto. Everybody also knows you're a playboy. Girls in this city are not one for your type, so I wouldn't try it here." You cross your arms.

"Well there's more to me under the surface, I'm sure you could learn to love me, you gorgeous--"

Theres a loud door slam, followed by, "Gold step the fuck down. I don't want to have to kick you out for harassing women again." Cameron growls, holding the utility belt. "Besides, (Name) over there is like a wild Pokémon, you gotta let _her_ approach _you_."

"Excuse me? I am not a--!" Cameron gives you a 'shut up I'm saving your ass' look and you just sit there, fuming in your head instead. You turn to Cameron, leaving Gold standing behind you.

"Well then c'mere sexy little (Name)!" He whistles. That sexist little-

At your limit, you're about to turn around and punch him when Cameron clicks his tongue at you, gaining your attention. He points to his left eye, signaling you that your keystone eye is glowing. You completely forget about Gold and cover it with your hand, embarrassed and hoping nobody else notices.

You turn your head to look for your Pokémon when out of nowhere your Sableye runs up to Gold in his mega-evolved form, jumps up, and kicks his red gem right into Gold's crotch. The teen squeals and drops, holding himself in pain as Sableye reverts back to his regular self. He then jumps up onto your lap into a protective stance and hisses at Gold.

You and Cameron snort, trying not to laugh. You turn back towards your friend and Cameron hands you the utility belt and you put it on before putting your backpack on. You come around behind the counter and approach Cameron. "Cam, I just want you to know that you're my very best friend. I don't know how long it will be, but I promise you we will meet again."

"I'll miss you (Name). You'll always be my little Rookie." He chuckles, ruffling your hair before the two of you hug. Sableye hugs Umbreon around the neck as he puts a paw over Sableye's back.

When you separate, you head outside, Sableye on your shoulder and ready to go. By now it was nearly midnight and the casino would close soon.

You headed for the bridge outside of town, and was ready to cross it when you realized exactly how scary it really was. There were no side ropes to hold onto, and below you the river was raging, a sure sign that spring was here and the last of the snow was melting.

"Sableye, you know we both hate doing this but...I think it'd be safer for you to stay inside your Pokéball." He nods in understanding and waits for you to tap him. You store him on one of the utility belt clips and begin to cross.

The bridge wobbled under your weight and you weren't sure if you could even cross. You added your second foot, holding your arms out to try and balance. _Don't look down._ You repeated in your head.

You were halfway across when an annoying voice whined at you, "hey (Name), get back here, it's not safe!"

"Gold whatever you do, _DON'T_ step on the bridge!!" You yell, feeling the bridge wobble though you haven't moved yet, signaling he had a foot on there. "It's not stable! Wait for me to cross first!"

"What?! No way! You're not gonna make it. Here, I'll help--!" He shouts, jumping onto the bridge.

The sudden stress of 100 plus pounds caused the weak rope on the right to snap, then the left, sending both you and Gold into the water. "Gold, what the FU--" your words were drowned out by the river you were plunged into.

You broke the surface, gasping for air; Gold was swirling down the current right in front of you. You hit a rock hidden under the surface which caused you to tumble forwards. Your backpack kept pushing you down, so in desperation you tugged your right arm free, and wrapped your left arm around the strap. When you were briefly pushed up for air you noticed Gold was missing. Underwater once again, you saw him next to you, trying to swim.

You attempted the same, but your backpacks unattended strap snagged on something momentarily causing a lag. Gold was right in front of you now, one wrong move and-

A foot hit you sharply in the face, causing you to release your air. Dizzy, you began inhaling a bit of water.

 _Fuck you Gold._ You thought before you passed out.  
  


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Ahhhhhhh! Hello my smol beans :3

Second part whoop whoop!

Sorry for all the swears and stuff but like to be fair I want to portray the reader as an independent 'I don't take crap from anybody' mature type. (By the way Cameron is 18, reader and Gold are 15.) don't worry, so far (and for the next few chapters) there are gonna be swears but there will be noticeably less.

Anyway I wish all my meh children a wonderful day :3

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	4. 3

You awoke with a start, coughing up some water. You groaned, holding your head. _Where am I?_ You sat up to find you were on a beach, the waves lapping at your legs and tugging on your backpack. Still a little weak, you drag it up away from the tides. You shake your head as you start to remember a few things.

The first thing you did was grab Sableye's Pokéball off its clip and let him out. "Sableye, are you ok?" You ask him. He looks startled at you for a second before looking around. Frightened, he settles back against you, and you hug him for comfort. He pulls on your sleeve and points to you, then above his lip.

Getting the hint, you rub just under your nose to find dried blood there, and what felt like a bruise towards your left upper lip. After rubbing it off and washing it with ocean water, you take your wet bag and haul it over to a corner of the beach that seemed to have a forest running alongside it. You unpacked your wet stuff and left your clothes on some rocks to dry.

"Arceus if Gold has the nerve to talk to me ever again I'll kick him in the nuts so hard his grandchildren will feel it." You rant to your Pokémon. "Being Champion of two regions doesn't make him any less of a stupid little--!!"

You're interrupted by Sableye, who holds a clawed hand over your mouth real quick. He's shaking a little, feeling skittish. You immediately knew you were in danger. You ducked behind the rock you were drying your clothes on.

After an agonizing minute of silence and watching beyond the rocks, a voice crowed, "the two of you can't hide from the strength of a Poochyena's nose." The man standing behind you wore a dark and hooded cape, a mask with two black eyeholes.

Even without Sableye's panicked whining and breathing, you knew deep in your gut that there was something very wrong with this man. Not to mention your Sableye was pumped with status TMs, which were now utterly useless since he had prankster, and was going up against a dark type. You didn't want to mega evolve Sableye, too afraid of anyone seeing your eye.

"I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" He cried out.

Without warning, Sableye jumps out in front of you. He's ready to fight for you. "Well ok, Sableye, use protect!" _The best we can do here is stall. Maybe we can get that Poochyena to no PP and have it struggle itself to faint._ His eyes glow a faint blue color as a holographic blue shield appears in front of him.

"Poochyena, bite!" The canine leapt onto Sableye's shield, pressing his muzzle against it as he tried to use bite.

"Protect!" However, this time Sableye was unable to make the projection, and took about a fourth of his health with bite. However, you had him use recover and he was back to normal. For the next ten turns that's all you did, protect until Sableye took damage, then use recover. Protect, recover...

The man battling you suddenly stopped, and stomped roughly into the semi-sandy beach. "Stop stalling! Give me a real battle!!" The man roared angrily. He recalled his Poochyena into his Pokéball and ran up to you, grabbing you by the collar.

"Hey, hey!" You yelped, grabbing his wrist and trying to pull away. "No need to get violent..." You knew something was wrong, was he going to kill you?!

Your Sableye began hissing at him, until the man gave him a silencing glare, and he hid behind you. The man turns to you. With his other hand, he grabs your cheek and pulls your face around. "Just as I thought." There's a small pause as he pulls you closer to him. "You and I, we aren't so different. I can see it in your eyes..." There's another pause, where you begin struggling again in his grip. His head whips up at a movement unseen to you, and grunts in frustration before pushing you away, where you stumble to the ground.

Sableye rushes to your aid, trying to pull you up. When you finally stand, you turn to face him, "now listen here mister, I don't know what your deal is but--!" you stare in astonishment before looking around your environment. He had disappeared completely, like magic almost.

Fast-paced footsteps are heading towards you, and you turn around. "Hey there, (Name)! Glad to see you're finally awake-guh!!"

You interrupt him with a roundhouse kick to the nuts, where he squeals and drops, whining. Sableye is on his back, laughing. "Gold I have a few words to say to you."

"Then why didn't you tell me to my face instead of show me though my paaaants!" He wails. A few tears fall to the sand and you had to admit, you did feel a slight bit of pity for the boy, but you wouldn't show.

"I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation here. We are stranded somewhere unfamiliar with no way home. First of all, why the hell were you following me when I left the casino?!" You fold your arms, Sableye copying you from behind.

"W-well Cameron held me back a little to make sure I wouldn't follow but I found you quickly anyway. I was following you, not for perverted or stalker reasons but because I wanted to keep you safe from people worse than myself. I have big Pokémon with me, no one's going to be intimidated by that thing you call your partner." Gold explains.

"Thank you for worrying but you shouldn't. Sableye can be dangerous when messing with people. Speaking of dangerous, where the hell were you when we washed up?! I was attacked while you were off wherever men like you go."

"Attacked? By who? We're the only ones here."

"The dude _left_! Obviously!" You groaned. Gold was just way too frustrating for you. You grabbed your hair and sighed. "Look, while you were off, some dude in a mask asked for a Pokémon battle and then assaulted me for having Sableye use protect and recover to keep himself safe. He must've noticed you from around that bend of trees over there because he dropped me and fled. If you weren't there, he could've hurt or kidnapped me."

Gold's eyes went wide. "Oh Arceus, I...I'm sorry I couldn't be there...I was actually trying to gather info on where we were. You were sleeping so I didn't want to wake you up. I left you there..."

"Well don't think too hard about it. Anyway, did you get anything?" You ask.

Gold suddenly pouts. "Not until you apologize for kicking me in the crotch!"

You let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, I'm sorry for getting reasonably mad at you and then unreasonably taking it out on you." You mutter.

Gold immediately smiles, "I don't understand half of that but I heard 'sorry' so it's ok!" You facepalm as he continues, "so as far as I can tell, we're in a region called Hoenn. Unfortunately I left my Togekiss at the nursery in hopes he'll find a mate so we don't have a way out, but if we can battle the 8 gyms here, at the end we can catch a ride into Johto."

You squint at him suspiciously. "Are you sure this has nothing to do with you wanting to become Champion of this region too?"

"Nope! I'm being honest!" He turns towards the forest and points, "this kid I talked to in the forest said to keep heading west and we'll reach the first gym." He turns back to you with a very cheerful smile. "Besides, being Champion of two regions is hard enough on its own!"

You weakly smile back. "Ha ha...yeah." You turn around to see Sableye playfully mocking you, and you stifle a giggle. You pick him up and kiss him on the forehead before letting him climb onto your shoulder. "How long do you think it'll take?"

Gold begins to think. He puts a hand to his chin, "well, on my first quest in Johto, it took nearly a year and a half to complete. Mostly because I started out with weak Pokémon who I had to train up. I took a three month break after that before heading to Kanto and that took me around 10 months. Mostly because that ass Red was hiding out on me." He glares at particularly nothing in anger. "Since I'm not aiming to become champion here and my Pokémon are strong enough to sweep any team, it'll take about a month or two."

"It's getting a bit dark out now, we should set up camp for the night." You head for your backpack and take out the folding tent and pop it out. Sighing, you turn to Gold. "Well since I'm gonna be stuck with you, may Arceus have mercy on your soul." You state calmly, flashing Gold an evil 'I wouldn't try anything' look.

He gulped. "Why of all personalities did you get a creepy and violent one?!" He whines before helping you set up the fire.  
  


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Hey y'all :3 my plan is to update specifically _this_ book every Saturday (Eastern America time). Obviously because I'm writing this stuff out early some of the stuff down here is gonna be outdated by the time it's actually published :0

For example right now I'm sick, but by the time y'all are getting worried I will have been sick a week ago and be all better now :3

All of you readers are each a special kind of lovely :3 never forget that.

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	5. 4

You woke up to the sound of loud, obnoxious snoring followed by a press against your back. You looked back to give a half-lidded, annoyed stare at the sleeping teen, who had his back pressed against yours. You turned towards your stomach to see Sableye curled up against you and hugging your arm while his head lay above your elbow like a pillow. _Cute._ You thought, smiling. You stealthily and slowly replace your arm with your hoodie, which just like Gold, the two of you had removed them to use as pillows.

Once you had escaped out onto the beach, you stretched and looked through your backpack for something to eat. Luckily you still had enough rations for at least two more days so you were able to grab out a breakfast bar and eat it. You decided to also do a bit of foraging in the woods behind you and took a resealable bag with you. Much to your luck you found a Razz berry bush, a Sitrus berry bush, and a wild pear tree **(I've actually eaten from one, they're really good)**. You collected some of each and brought it all back to camp.

By the time you got there, you were interrupted by a charge-tackle from your Sableye. He was whining and burying himself into the side of your neck, holding you tightly. Gold appears in front of you as your try to calm your Pokémon down. "Your Sableye buddy over there was going berserk. He was everywhere the moment he woke up." He chuckles, "that little guy really likes you."

"You say it like I don't know that already." You scoff, rolling your eyes. You stand up, supporting Sableye in one hand and tossing Gold one of the pears you snagged with the other. "I got you breakfast by the way." He misses the catch and trips trying to pick it up. You sigh, heading towards the tent. "You're welcome." You mutter.

"Oh, thanks." Gold states before polishing the pear with his shirt and then biting into it. "Whuffer u booing?" He asks. He swallows before asking again, "what're you doing?"

"I'm getting dressed." You state flatly. You set Sableye down outside the tent and asked him to stay before turning to Gold. "And don't you dare peek or I'm going to burn your eyes."

"Arceus, woman! You can't even trust me for one second!" Gold whines. "Stop threatening me, too!! It's creepy!"

"Well from what I know, all perverts and playboys will take any chance they can get to peek at a woman dressing." You huff.

"Well I'll have you know I've given up on you. No one wants to date a cranky person who threatens someone."

You scoff angrily. "Well I'll have _you_ know that the only reason you're getting the 'cranky' side of me is because you're the damn flirt and you never listen and you piss me off!!"

"Well I don't try to, ok?!" He yells. It's silent for a while, minus the occasional chitters from Sableye, who is wandering the area, oblivious to what is happening. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. We're both stuck somewhere unfamiliar with each other. We don't know anything about each other or how to get back home. We're both upset but don't worry, in the end we'll make it home. I'll make sure of that." His voice is quiet.

There's another awkward silence until you poke your head out of the tent. "You're right. Sorry for being such a jerk." You rub the left side of your face for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "How about a deal, if I follow you around and let you battle the gyms, when we get back to Johto you're gonna help me get to Kanto and then we'll never have to deal with each other again. Fair?" You ask.

"Deal." Gold smirks, grabbing your hand and shaking it. He walks towards your tent and begins to take it down. You follow suit and help him.

-~( Time Skip )~-

You sit down for a rest, legs exhausted from carrying your heavy backpack and Sableye on your shoulder. "Are you sure we're still going the right way? Are you sure we were going in the right way to _begin_ with?" You complain, pulling out a water bottle from your backpack and drinking. You offered Sableye the other half of your drink before offering Gold a water bottle of his own.

He declines your offer, "well I hear some noises over there, it could be the village that kid was talking about!"

Sableye was snuffling nervously, burying his head into your neck and right shoulder. "Sableye quit it." You scold him lightly, causing him to hum with dissatisfaction. He begins to scout the area with his gem eyes. You turn to Gold, petting Sableye on the head, "Arceus thank you, I don't think I could stand another mile." Standing up you do a bit of stretching before putting your backpack on and letting your Pokémon perch on your shoulder.

As the three of you trekked closer to the noises, they started to seem less human. Eventually, you stumbled across the source of the noise. In front of you lay about a hundred Kakuna, buzzing and humming from the trees above you. Worried, you tugged on Gold's sleeve, "Gold I don't--"

"What are you so worried about, (Name)?" Gold asks. "They're not Beedrill yet so they don't pose a threat."

" _Yet_ he says." You mumble under your breath. Sableye snickers at Gold before nuzzling your shoulder affectionately. "Look, let's just find a way around them, and keep going. I don't want any of them to evolve while we're here." You shutter.

Instead, Gold laughs at you. "I thought you were brave but you're just a chicken!"

You send Gold a glare. "I'm not a chicken, I just have more common sense than you!" You cuff him upside the head, but that doesn't stop him.

"Big ol' (Name)-y W-(ame)-y is afraid of Kakuna!"

"Fine!" You hiss. You hand Sableye and your backpack over to Gold. "Sableye, cooperate with Gold, but if he mistreats you or my stuff you have my permission on revenge." You step out of the bushes you were hiding behind. "I'll prove it to you I'm not afraid!" You stand in the clearing, all the Kakuna looming over you. It seemed they had no clue of your presence. "Ta-da!" You whisper-shout over to Gold sarcastically. You look over to see Sableye looking anxious. He suddenly began pointing upwards, and waving his hands to get your attention.

"(Name), get out of there NOW!!" Gold yells.

You look up to see that you had caught the attention of one Kakuna, who began slowly warning the others and coming out of its shell. You took no hesitation in jumping out of the way of one of the Beedrill's first attacks. "Gold, take my stuff and run! I'll find you!" You were going to use Sableye's mega evolution, and you didn't want Gold to witness what was happening. Your right eye began glowing, the keystone starting to activate. "Sableye, use--!"

"Combusken, Flame Charge, let's go!" A female's voice boomed from beyond the swarm.

Your first reaction to the voice was to try and stop Sableye's mega evolution as you covered your keystone eye.

"Right, Typhlosion use Eruption!" You heard Gold's voice from behind you. _Now he helps!_ You think angrily.

As you directed your attention towards the spewing flames hitting Beedrill and fainting them from all angles, you noticed some stray flames were headed for you! You tried to cover your head, but you knew it wouldn't work. Something heavy landed on your head, as clawed feet clung to your hair. There were some grunts above you and you realized Sableye was up there, using Protect against the flames! "Thank you buddy!" You smile.

As soon as the Beedrill emerged, they were gone, scared of the flames. Sableye stopped and sunk onto your shoulders, a little tired.

"Gold if you had a fire type all along why didn't you have it out?!" You hissed at him.

He put his hands up in defense, "hey, I didn't mean to get you in trouble! I just thought that the flames on Typhlosion's back would provoke the Kakuna but I guess it didn't matter. I'll try to be more help!" He whines.

You rolled your eyes. "Just be lucky that girl over there came and helped us because I could've gotten killed." You snorted at him then walked up to her.

"Hi there! It's a good thing I could hear you yelling or you could've been seriously hurt. I'm Sapphire, you?" She asked, holding her hand out.

"Uh thank you. I'm (Name) and--"

"Wow! Such a pretty name for a pretty lady!" Gold smiles at Sapphire, who only gives him a confused look.

"And doofus over there is Gold." You sigh. You shake her hand.

"Thank you Gold but I'm not one for romance." She giggles. "Better luck next time." Gold frowns.

"Anyway we're kinda lost. This is really our first time in Hoenn. We're trying to get home."

"Say no more! I've lived here my whole life. Ruby moved here so he's new, too. I'll show all three of you around! Follow me."

The three of you walk through the forest together, Sableye resting in your arms.  
  
  


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Haha yEET

I know gen 2 came out before I did (haha) and I first played it in 2016 (Gold Version) but like of all the gens this one is my favorite. My favorite characters, favorite legendaries, favorite starters, favorite eeveelution, etc.

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	6. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what the, when did the chapters get mixed up, this is chapter 5 not 6?

After emerging from the forest, you saw a boy with white hair trying to show a green-haired boy how to catch a Ralts.

 _Oh Arceus._ You blushed with embarrassment. _That's a hat! Not white hair!_ You covered your mouth though you said nothing. Gold gave you a confused look.

"Ruby, hi!" Sapphire waves at the people and the boy with the hat looked up, the green-haired one following.

You couldn't help but think that the boy you presumed was Ruby was honestly...kinda cute in a way.

"Hey Sapphire, who are those two?" Ruby asks, pointing.

"This is (Name) and Gold. Who's that?"

"Wally. I'm trying to show him how to catch a Pokémon." Ruby shows off his perfect teeth in a huge, gleeful grin.

Wally smiles tenderly towards you and Gold. "I just caught a Ralts! Wanna see him?"

 _Gosh, are all people from Hoenn this adorable and friendly?_ You shot Gold a glance, thinking of specifically him being annoying, before returning Wally's smile. "Why not?"

Wally throws the Pokéball in the air and sure enough a male Ralts appears in front of you. Sableye detaches himself from your shoulder and leaps down to meet the new Pokémon, holding out a clawed hand for him to shake, like you had taught him. Ralts seems a little shy at first but tentatively sticks his hand out, where Sableye grabs his hand and shakes it. Unsure of what interaction just went down, Ralts gives his hand a long, hard stare.

You, Sapphire and Ruby giggle while Wally tries to explain the handshake to his Ralts. "He's so adorable!" You smile.

Gold isn't amused, too eager to get battling then get home. Besides, there were no eligible women for him to flirt with. "Anyway do you know where we can get to the first gym?" He interrupts impatiently.

"Yes! We've already passed it though, but you're welcome to follow that path down and you'll find a rock type gym. Good luck!" Sapphire waves to you as the trio head down the opposite way.

Gold waves you along, "let's go then!" He exclaims. He goes to grab your wrist, but a warning growl from Sableye stops him, and he puts his hands up and starts walking.

It's rather silent, but for you it's comfortable. You couldn't seem to get your mind off Ruby. He was like Gold, but more caring and gentle. You don't realize Gold had stopped until you ran into his back and stumbled over your feet. He doesn't even ask if you're ok.

"Well we're at the gym! If you don't want to battle you're welcome to stay here. I think there's a PokéMart nearby so if you want to buy anything check it out." With that Gold opens the double doors and heads in.

You sit outside on a nearby bench, Sableye resting in your lap. The two of you are minding your business until suddenly Sableye perks up, alert and shaking a little. A heavy feeling of dread sinks into your stomach. _Oh no._ Fearing it was the 'Man' again, you stand up to enter the gym and warn Gold when you're blocked.

You don't dare look up. You already know who it is. "L-look, I don't know what you want from me but p-please take it and go!" You stutter with fear.

The man grabs you by your collar, nearly choking you as he picks you up. "You...you are going to fight me...and this time fight fair!" Rage is evident in his voice, as he drops you and puts some space between the two of you, before taking out his Poochyena.

"I-I can't, Sableye has prankster, and only status moves." You frown.

"F-f-f-FINE!!" The man yells. He pulls out a second Pokéball, releasing an Eevee. "I WANT TO SEE YOUR POWER!!" He roars. You're surprised no one's noticed.

Sableye wants to protect you. He steps down from your shoulder and pushes forwards, waiting anxiously for the man to make his move.

Eevee lunges forwards and uses bite, but with the weakness of ghost paired to the resistance of dark, Sableye takes normal damage.

It's only a third though, so you're not quite worried yet. "Toxic." Sableye nods and spits a dark purple sludge at the Eevee, which seeps into its fur and weakens it.

"Stop that!" The man hisses. "Y-y-you're just so damn annoying! Fight me fair!"

You shrink back, Sableye looks back at you with concern. "I didn't mean to--" you're interrupted by a door opening, and you instinctively turn to look at who it was.

It was none other than that perv Gold. "Guess who got a badge?" He asks you, dragging out the a in badge in a very sing-song voice. You turn back to see if that man was still there, but there was no trace of him. "Hey, are you alright?" Gold expresses deep concern in his voice, but you turned him a cold shoulder.

"It's nothing, probably some native ghost Pokémon. Let's go." You dismiss him, Sableye crawling on your back. Embarrassingly you trip over something in the way, falling on your face, "ignore that!" You snap, turning to see what had stopped you.

You immediately soften up in awe. Where the man previously stood now laid an egg. It was decorated with purple and brown markings, had a slight crack in it where the man dropped it. Luckily nothing seemed to be wrong to you, but you weren't sure so you picked up the egg. "Let's get you to the PokéCenter." You murmur to the egg.

"Wow! Cold and heartless (Name) loves something!" Gold absolutely has to remark. To you, this was no time to joke. You're no good at playing doctor, and you had no idea how serious a crack in the eggshell of a Pokémon was.

You give him an angry warning growl, and Sableye hisses at him. "I'm being serious!" You don't even wait for a reply you just take off and try to get to the PokéCenter. _Stupid Gold..._ Your thoughts eventually wander towards the man. _What does he want from me? I may not like it but next time we meet, I'll make sure it's our last._  
  


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That's a new chapter for everyone! Sorry if it took a month and a half '^'

I'm not the best at keeping schedules, and I should probably work on it more.

Tbh everything sucks until you get out of school, because when you're out of school and college and you have a job, you only ever have to go to work and when you aren't at work that's free time and just ahhhhhh.

Idk but y'all are the best.

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	7. 6

You sighed as Gold finished setting up camp with you. "You've raised an egg before, what's it like? How do you know you're doing it right?" You ask him.

He shrugs. "I dunno. All I do is keep it warm, and show it love. That always does the trick for me." After nurse Joy had looked over the egg, she said it was still doing well, so long as no more damage comes to it. It would have a birthmark at most. Nurse Joy let you keep it, and Gold offered his help in raising it. Sableye was admittedly jealous, but calmed down when you assured him he was still your favorite. The two of you mulled over what was in the egg.

"When will it hatch?" You were rather curious and impatient about it.

Gold chuckles at you, "didn't you hatch your Sableye?"

"Not really...I just found him. My mother gave him to a local nursery where we let them hatch him. I've got no personal experience with eggs." You fiddle with your fingers, looking at your Sableye, who was staring intently at the egg in your lap.

Gold nods in understanding. "Well, it'll hatch when it's ready. Sometimes they'll hatch at the most unexpected times."

You sighed once again and put the egg down in the tent and settled down, curled around it. "I wonder what you are..." You whisper. Even Sableye comes up to the egg and curls up next to it, trying his best to keep it warm. You smile at him. "Thanks buddy. You're so sweet." To which he only scoffs with embarrassment and curls up tighter, avoiding your gaze as he blushed with embarrassment.

You giggle. "Cute." Gold mutters. You were about to turn on him, but you figured that since the word wasn't for your ears, you'd let it pass. As you calmed yourself down, you assured yourself it was merely a compliment. "We should get some rest. We've got another couple miles to go before we reach the next gym. I promise this time we'll rest up at a hotel. Two beds, of course." He adds quickly, seeing your suspicious and angry glare.

"Well alright. This time though I'm putting a divider between us so I don't have to wake up to you pressing against me." Gold gives you a look of confusion. "It's weird sleeping with a boy, alright?! And don't you dare take that the wrong way!" You gripe at him.

"I wasn't planning on it, sheesh!" He pouts, folding his arms. He waits for you to arrange your Sableye and the egg around in the tent before you curl up, a bundle of sticks and leaves separating your sleeping space from his. You promptly fall asleep.

The next morning, you woke up to the sound of Gold's astonishingly loud snoring. "Arceus damn him." You hiss angrily. You check on the egg before making some breakfast.

Gold comes out of the tent. "Something smells nice!" He exclaims, stretching and sitting down next to you. You hand him a plate of food.

"Eat." You command, not turning to look at him.

He hesitates a bit, poking at the food. It looked strange, and almost unpleasant to eat. However, it gave off a nice and sweet yet smoky scent. "Are you sure about this?" He asks, picking some up and watching it fall back on the plate.

"Food is for your mouth, not your eyes. Try some, you might like it." You murmur to him in a 'matter-of-fact'ly voice.

He gulps before taking a small nibble of the food you had prepared. His eyes pop open with surprise. "This...tastes wonderful! It's the best thing I've ever had!" He cries with excitement, before wolfing down the whole thing.

"Never underestimate my skills." You remind him.

"You say that like I didn't already know that, dumb-dumb!" He jokes, patting your shoulder.

You sigh and roll your eyes. "Sure." You stand up and enter the tent, bringing in a bit of topaz for your Pokémon to eat as you checked up on the egg yet again. "Still nothing..." You groan while Sableye wakes up. He immediately sees the gemstones in your hand and reaches out for them. You hand them to him and put the egg in your lap. You stare at it a bit. _I need to show it attention..._ You take a quick look outside, only to see Gold poking the fire with a stick in boredom. You turn back to the egg and put your hands on the egg. "Uhm...hi there...egg." You say to it. You sit there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. "My name's (Name), and I'm going to be your mommy, and you're going to have Sableye as an older brother. We're in a tent right now, lost far away from our real home, on an island in the ocean. Mommy's trying real hard to find her real home, but in the meantime, she's going to take care of you the best she can." You lean into the egg, wiping away your oncoming tears. "Mommy won't let you go." You sniffle, hugging the egg close to your body. You think of all the times your adoptive mother showed you love, and wonder what it would've been like if you had lived with your real parents, and it pulls you into a soft sob.

Sableye comes up to you and sits down next to you, laying his head on your arm and holding onto the shirt fabric around your stomach. You gently pull your arm out from under his head and wrap it around him. "We three are our own family." You murmur, kissing the top of Sableye's head and the top of the egg. It wiggles a bit but stops.

Unbeknownst to you, Gold ducks his head out of the tent. He himself sheds a tear or two, before walking back over to the fire and sitting down. "Take care of them (Name), they need you just as much as you need them..."  
  


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Heyo guys! I know it's been two weeks or so but here's another update! •v•

Not sure what to say about this but this is totally not filler, this is definitely related to the story, and this isn't sarcasm at all!

Or is it?

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	8. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to cry

After walking for hours on end, you finally arrived at another Hoenn village. You let out an exasperated groan of "oh thank Arceus" and continued to walk until you ran into a familiar trio.

"(Name)! Gold! It's nice to see you two. How's it going?" Sapphire asks.

"It's been fairly well. My feet hurt like it's never hurt before, but other than that, we found an egg!" You smile. Sableye roots around in the backpack you kept it in, before pulling the egg out and showing it off.

Sapphire squeals in excitement. "That's so sweet!" She gets a good look at it. "Oh, and Ruby here is going to be doing his first performance!"

"Sapphire! That was my secret to share!" The boy groans. He sighs. "Yeah, I got in and it turns out I'm going to have my first performance soon. Perhaps I'll see you two there?" He asks, looking directly at you.

This causes you to become flustered. "No, it's not really my--"

"Yeah, of course!" You cut off Gold. He gives you a look of utter betrayal, but says nothing and pouts. "What time?"

"Tonight, actually. The three of us beat the gym here, and we're going to the hotel to freshen up before I go perform. I'm glad to hear you'd like to come see me." He blushes lightly and rubs the back of his neck.

"Ok, bye guys!" Gold waves to Ruby, Sapphire and Wally before grabbing your wrist and dragging you away.

"What was that for?" You hiss at him, ripping your arm out of his grasp and rubbing the red mark on it. Sableye lets out a low growl at Gold, leaving the egg in your backpack.

"Did you really have to drag me along into this mess?! It's obvious that you and Ruby like each other, so why do I have to come see his stupid dress-up performance?!" Gold spits angrily.

"Ok, fine, I do like him. So what? Can't you at least come with me as somewhat as a friend?!"

"Oh, I'm so flattered you think of me as a friend." He replies sarcastically. "And I'm not going to show up to his stupid little performance!"

"Why, is it because you're jealous of him?! Because the two of you are so similar, the only difference being he can respect a woman and not be a playboy?!" You yell back.

"You've known him for two fucking hours tops, what right do you have to bash me using what little you know about that fucking narcissistic pretty boy?! You've got none! You're fucking mental!" He screams.

You stare at him in shock. Usually you would've had the strength to beat the absolute shit out of anyone who disses you, but you couldn't move. Your heart pounded in your ears as your eyes began watering ferociously. "I was wrong to call you a friend." You manage to choke out before running off.

"(Name), wait!" He called.

No, you weren't going to turn back. You weren't going to be the girl who would melt at the words 'I'm sorry' and then accept his fake friendship. You kept running until you collapsed from the pain in your legs from walking so much. You just lay there, sobbing as Sableye attempted to calm you down. He chittered at you and nuzzled your neck with the top of his head, and even rubbed his cheek against yours, but it was hardly successful. You heard footsteps behind you. "Leave me alone, Gold." You hiss. It's quiet for a while, and you were almost certain he was going to try and calm you down too, but you were sorely mistaken.

You were harshly grabbed by the left and and hauled into a standing position. "I found you!~" a familiar voice teased in your ear in a sing-song voice. Your throat closed on itself and your heart began racing. You mentally panicked as he threw you to the ground. "I want that battle, (Name), and this time there will be no interruptions."

"What...what do you mean?" You stuttered in fear.

"Gold is conquering the gym, which is far from here, your other three friends are pampering themselves, and we're secluded! No one will interrupt us!" He laughs. The man suddenly groans and grabs his head. He falls to his knees, clutching it still.

"I'm going to get a doctor and the police," you offer quickly. You're about to run away when you're grabbed again.

"No." The man says darkly. He suddenly brightens up. "You're not leaving...until I get that battle!" He hyperventilates a little before sending out Eevee, then sending out his Poochyena as well. "Poochyena use bite!"

For some reason, the Poochyena aims for you. Luckily Sableye pulled off a protect, without you having to ask him of it. Sableye hisses at the Poochyena then spits a purple sludge at the Pokémon. Being a dark type, the prankster ability doesn't let the toxic take effect.

"No. No. NO NO NO NO NO!" The man yells. Puffing angrily, he catches sight of a small roundish thing in your backpack. "That's...that's mY EGG!!" He screeches. However, instead of trying to get the egg, he lunges for you. He grabs you by the throat, not quite choking you, but he restricts your airflow.

You scream but that only causes him to tighten his hold. Sableye rushes to help you out, but the Poochyena and the Eevee block him, growling aggressively at your Pokémon. Small black dots start to crowd your vision as you struggle in his hold, trying to hit him, poke his eyes, kick him, anything.

As luck would have it, Gold shows up, his trusty Typhlosion right behind him. "(Name)!" He cries.

The man looks at the newcomer before pushing you to the ground and booking it, taking his Pokémon with him.

Gold rushes to your side and sits down next to you, propping you up against him. "Oh, (Name)..." He starts, eyes slightly watery. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault. I should've never said those awful things to you. I shouldn't have been so selfish. You wouldn't have run off if I had just tried to keep you happy for one day. If I hadn't shown up, you...you could've...the man..." He can't help but weep into your shoulder. "I'm sorry, (Name), I'm so, so..." He trails off, but you pick him back up, the small black dots in your peripheral vision starting to fade.

"It's alright, Gold. No harm done." You cough.

"No, it is not alright!" Gold declares. "You were almost choked to death." He pauses a moment, holding you close. The egg wiggled.

"Gold...I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I just sort of ran off instead of beating you up like normal." You giggle.

He chuckles lightly. "I'm just...I'm just glad you're ok. I promise that from now on, you and I are a team, and where you go, I will follow." He hesitates a moment before kissing your forehead.

From next to you, the egg began to crack and glow...  
  


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Two nights, two chapters. Hell yeah.

Things are getting better between you two :3

Stay turned!

I mean tuned. I'm way too tired to be up at 11 at night (23:00)

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	9. 8

When the light died down, you were in shock. You scrambled away from Gold's side, who seemed a little disgruntled at the interruption, and you looked over the new Pokémon.

He looked up at you, sitting down, tilting his head cutely. He chirped lightly. It was a Tyrogue. You smiled, holding you a hand. "Welcome to the family, little one!"

He grinned widely, grabbing your hand and using it to pull himself up. Right away you noticed a small scar on his chest. _The crack in the egg..._ You ignored it and gave him a hug. "I'm (Name), and this is your brother Sableye." Sableye crawled up to the Tyrogue slowly and sniffed him cautiously, before hoisting himself into a standing position and greeting him.

"Hi there," Gold says, trying to greet the new Pokémon as well. Tyrogue suddenly became very skittish and hid behind you, still holding your hand. "Haha, he's a momma's boy." Gold smiles.

You took a little offense to this, thinking Gold was trying to be rude. "There's nothing wrong with that!" You hiss. Tyrogue tugs on your hand, and once he has your attention, he points to his scar. "Are you feeling...self conscious?" You ask. He nods ever so slightly, looking down in shame. You kneel down to Tyrogue's height. You almost felt like a real mother to him. You dig through your bag and pull out a cloth. "There's nothing wrong with your scar, but if it makes you feel better, I believe this should cover it up and give you something stylish." You say, tying the blue cloth around his neck. It hung down low enough to cover his scar. Tyrogue barked happily and smiled at you.

Gold interrupts the moment. "Not to burst your bubble or anything but we should really get a hotel room and unload all our stuff before we're late to Ruby's performance."

You look over at Gold. "I thought you didn't want to go?" You ask.

He sighs. "I said we, but no, I'm not going. However I know it's important to you and I'm trying to be...not selfish..." He ends.

You nod. You put on your backpack, Sableye clinging to your shoulder. You held Tyrogue's hand as the four of you walked towards the hotel. You arrived shortly and booked a room with two big beds.

Gold quickly found they were bouncy. "Gold, stop!" You scold him. "This is a hotel room not a playground!"

"If this is a hotel room why don't you act like it?" He purrs, acting flirty.

Even if it was a joke, it bothered you. You grabbed a pillow and just fucking chucked it as hard as you could. You hit the teen square in the face and he hit the back wall and fell off the bed. "What the hell woman?!" He groans in pain, sitting up.

Sableye laughs at him while Tyrogue hides behind your leg. "Stop flirting with me!" You hiss. "And you gotta stay clean for the child." You add, patting Tyrogue on the head.

"Just because he was born a half hour ago doesn't mean he's a baby. Have you seen a Kangaskan? They're born with babies in their bellies!" He argues.

"That's natural for them!" You snort. You fold your arms angrily. "Whatever. I'm going to get ready for the performance."

"Go do that." Gold says, exiting the hotel room.

"Where are you going?" You ask him.

He smiles at you. "I'm getting us dinner."

"You don't have to lie to me, I know you're going to go flirting with all the women in town." You say lowly.

"I was being serious! But now that you mention it, I might grab a phone number or two. I can't help it if I'm irresistible." He boasts.

"Tell me that again when you actually have a girlfriend." You retort.

"I heard that!" He pouts before leaving.

You sigh. "What will I do with him?" You look through your clothes. "I have no clue how this performance is going to go...is it formal? Casual? Super extra fancy?" You ponder aloud.

Sableye holds up a pair of (black or white) leggings and your (favorite color) long shirt.

You give him a grateful look. "Thank you buddy. It's not fancy but it's not informal. I don't know what I'll do without you." You rub the top of his head, and he purrs in content.

Soon after dressing, there's a knock on your door. You open it to see, "Ruby! Come right in!" You step aside and let him in, asking him to take a seat next to you on your bed. "How did you know--"

"Gold told me. We met each other in the halls. He said he was grabbing dinner for the two of you. I asked where you were and he told me." He answers sheepishly. "Gosh, that's not weird, is it?" He asks, flustered.

"N-no! Not at all!" You stutter. You feel something pulling on your leggings to find your shy little Tyrogue.

"Who's that? I didn't know you had a Tyrogue." Ruby asks curiously.

"Oh, he's a new edition to the team. I hatched him about an hour ago!" You say with pride. "He's pretty shy, but he's my little boy." You give him an affectionate smile and pat his head. He seems content with this. Sableye looks on in jealousy.

There's a pause, before you realize Ruby's fingertips are barely touching yours. He's blushing, obviously aware of this, but he pretends not to know it.

"You look lovely today. Your outfit is so simple yet it manages to make you look very stunning." He compliments.

You heat up very quickly. _Oh Arceus, what is this boy doing to me?_ You wonder. "Thank you." You nod.

Ruby suddenly looks over at you. "So...what are you and Gold to each other? Siblings? Lovers?"

"Arceus no, I can't stand him half the time." You hiss. "We're not related, at least I should hope we aren't, and I don't think we could ever be lovers. He's too...I don't know. Our personalities kinda clash."

"But you two seem to get along perfectly fine." Ruby creases his brows in confusion.

"Ugh, our personalities are like a balloon and a cactus. If he hits me the wrong way things explode and get out of hand." You grumble.

It's quiet once again. "So...you're single?" Ruby asks, a little hesitant.

You quickly notice how very close he was, and you tear yourself from the otherwise inevitable kiss, and look at the ground, swinging your feet back and forth. You weren't quite sure if you were ready to have your first kiss. "Y-yeah, I guess s-so..." You stutter. _Curse this kid's ability to make me weak!_ You think.

Ruby looks a bit hurt at the potential rejection, but he nods to himself. He soon stands up. "I thank you for this time we spent together. I'm glad I'll be seeing you at my performance."

You smile. "Of course!" Ruby soon leaves.

You groan and lay down on the bed. A minute or two later Sableye gives you a concerned look. You immediately knew what your partner was thinking. "I know we have feelings for each other, I'm sure of it! But...I don't know why I couldn't accept that nearing kiss..."

"Feels for who now?" Gold asks, the door wide open. He's holding a grocery bag of goodies in his left hand.

"THAT WASN'T FOR YOU TO EAVESDROP ON, _PAL_." You screech, standing up astonishingly fast and popping your knuckles.

Gold drops the bag and sprints down the hall of the hotel.  
  


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Another chapter!!

I might have a slight writer's block when writing the next chapter, I can feel it.

But don't worry! I used my psychic powers to detect the block, so I have come prepared with a pickaxe! Ah ha!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	10. 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hate myself, I posted the whole story in the summary and couldn't figure out what happened.

"And you're absolutely sure you don't want to go?" You ask the teen sitting on the bed.

Gold scoffs, "no. I've been telling you this all day."

"Just think you should know that it's not just about Ruby. There could be female performers too." You nudge him.

"Yeah well I'm still not going. You can't make me." He pouts childishly. "In fact I'm going to go see if there are any sort of casinos around, see if I can pick up any girls there."

The two of you leave the room, your Pokémon following close by, but when you exit the hotel, Gold stays with you. "Aren't you going to go do boy stuff?" You ask.

He grabs your hand suddenly, "I'm not risking you being here alone with that mysterious guy around." He hisses lowly.

"I've got Tyrogue now...that's two Pokémon." You said confidently.

"He tried to choke you to death! Arceus, (Name), have some common sense! He's gonna try it again, you know." He frowns. He squeezes your hand. Normally you would've pulled away, disgusted, but you were letting it happen. By now you just thought of him as a protective friend, who could be pushy at times.

Tyrogue holds your other hand. "I know. I'm sorry." You look away. "It's just I'm so used to being independent and strong, but there's something weird about him that I can't understand, and he makes me so afraid of him." You squeeze his hand to reassure him. "Thank you for thinking of me."

"Pssht, it's nothing." Gold holds his chin up, causing you to smile.

When you arrive, you stare in awe at all the bright colors and wonderful displays. "There you go. I'll come walk you back when it's over."

"Oh, you don't have to. Ruby, Sapphire and Wally were going to take me back, since we're all boarding in the same hotel." You assure him.

He sighs and waves his hand at you, "okay fine, but promise me you'll stick by them at all times."

"I promise." You groan in exasperation. "I've got to go or I'll miss it." You wave goodbye and make your way towards the seats, where you found your seat next to a familiar pair of faces. "Hi Sapphire, hi Wally!" You sit next to the green hair boy.

He smiles up at you, "are you excited? The performances here are always spectacular."

"Yeah. I heard they also have these in Kalos; isn't that neat? Does Johto have any performances?" Sapphire adds.

You frown slightly. "No, actually. We're just the average run-of-the-mill region. Although we do hold a lot more ancient traditions than anywhere else."

"My favorite region is probably Sinnoh. What about you guys?" Sapphire asks.

"I like Alola for its nice tropical breezes. It's good for the lungs." Wally sighs. "I went there once on vacation, and it was wonderful!"

You hesitate, scratching the back of your head sheepishly. "I've never been outside of Johto before. Much less so Goldenrod City. My parents can't afford to go anywhere really."

"Then how did you end up here?" Wally asks.

You groan. "It's kinda Gold's fault. I was trying to escape to Kanto to see my real parents when he snapped a bridge I was walking on and we both fell in. We were in the ocean for a while, I'm surprised we lived."

"So...you're adopted?" Wally's voice was quiet, and full of sympathy.

"It's not like it was a bad thing." You wave it off, trying to calm the small boy.

Sapphire finally looks over at you, a quizzical look on her face. "What I don't understand is how you made it here if both of you were unconscious and in the ocean. Surely you would've drowned unless someone or something helped you."

That made you pause. _How did Gold and I make it? Without the help of some outside source, what happened there was nothing short of a miracle!_ You ponder. You rack your brain trying to think. _Whoever helped us must've been either a Pokémon capable of swimming long distances and bearing lots of weight, or someone who helped out but was too shy to stick around after. But who--_

"It's starting!" Sapphire's high pitched and excited squealing broke you from your thoughts. You look down at the stage from the perch you three were on, and watched the first performer take the lead.

It was an adult male in a grey and blue tuxedo with a Dunsparce, Slowbro, and a Chandelure. You stared in awe as you watched the Pokémon dance about and use certain moves to add special effects and amazing scenes.

Even your Sableye and Tyrogue, who were occupying the seats next to you, were incredibly excited, and couldn't hide their excitement.

When he finished everyone in the audience clapped and cheered. The man took a bow before exiting the stage.

The next performer was a female in a stunning lavender costume with little gold stars accenting it. She sent out a Zangoose and a Luxio, and together they performed just as wonderfully as the last person.

A third person came onto stage. Accompanied with a Jolteon, Roserade, and an Absol, he wore a simple and comfy getup, and performed quickly.

Finally it was Ruby's turn. You, Wally and Sappbire cheered loudly for him. He scanned the audience with somewhat nervous eyes, but when the two of you made eye contact, he bore a confident smile and no longer seemed nervous. He sent out a Grovyle and a Delcatty, and began to perform.

You watched him, completely mesmerized as he danced around the stage in perfect sync with his Pokémon. _Gold would've loved to see this..._ You think as you continue to watch him. His two Pokémon made a final move and landed firmly on the ground, before picking their heads up. The five of you, including Tyrogue and Sableye, went wild. He looked back at you, a pleased grin on his face before he bows and walks off stage.

Once the performance was over, you were eager to go see him. He didn't win first place, he got fourth, but you were still proud of him. He looked so proud of himself, and no one seemed to mind what place they got. _Friendly and casual competition._ You grab Tyrogue's hand, letting Sableye settle down on your head, and rush out to greet Ruby. Wrestling through the crowds of people, you finally spotted a familiar face. "Ruby!" You cry in excitement, pushing your way towards him. Once you made it, you gave him a tight hug. "You did wonderfully! It was so amazing, I've never seen anything like it! It's so beautiful!" You began rambling to him.

"Woah, slow down there, (Name)." He chuckles, putting a hand on your shoulder. "I'm glad you liked it." He gives you a charming smile. "And if you think it's so cool, you can join as well. Performances are meant to be fun and entertaining."

"Nah, I think these two enjoy watching more than doing." You giggle. You then lean down and kiss Tyrogue's forehead, to which he barks happily, and you nuzzle Sableye's cheek.

"I'm glad you know your Pokémon so well." Ruby smiles. You realize he's gotten extremely close, and you can feel his breath on your nose.

You can feel your heart start racing while your throat drops into your stomach. He starts leaning in slowly, but you're frozen. You don't want to kiss him really, but what if you freak out and he only meant it to be a kiss on the cheek? Oh Arceus he's getting closer!

"There you are!" Sapphire's voice rings out and you see Ruby reel away, looking at the two in slight annoyance. Your heart rate doubles as you breathe a sigh of relief and try to calm down. "We've been looking for you two! C'mon let's go get some congratulatory ice creams before we head back to the hotel."

You simply nod and follow behind Sapphire, trying to think of what happened back there. Sableye nudges your cheek and whines. "I don't know what to think, buddy. I love him and all but at the same time...it's like I don't wanna be more than friends." You sigh. He merely chitters at you in encouragement and buries his face into you. You laugh at his adorable antics. "Thanks buddy."  
  


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Hehe so things are looking kinda complicated between you and Ruby, so good luck.

Also I put a lil easter egg in here. The three trainers here are based on my Boyfriend, me, and then my best friend. I would've had an Eevee or Sableye instead of Luxio but you (reader) already had a Sableye and my beat friend had Jolteon and I'm like "one eevee is enough"

Hope y'all enjoy!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	11. 10

Tyrogue was cradled in your arms and Sableye was slung over the top of your head, your Pokémons' faces stained with ice cream. Ruby opened the door to your hotel room and let you in. "Thank you so much." You whispered to him.

"It was nothing! I'd do anything for you." The boy smiles warmly at you. "You look exhausted, get some sleep! Goodnight!"

"You too." He let you shut the door, which caused Sableye to stir. Usually, one would think a dark/ghost type could live years without sleep, but he was a special case who took after you and slept when you did. Sableye woke up and mumbled at you. "Sorry bud." Then Tyrogue awoke as well. "Seriously?" You groan. You set the two on the ground and lead them into the bathroom. "Let's just brush your teeth and get you ready for bed." You hand Sableye his chewed-up toothbrush and start helping Tyrogue with his. Yes, you brush your Pokémons' teeth. Sableye has been doing it his whole life so he was used to it. To Tyrogue, everything was new to him so he just accepted it. The newborn slumped over tiredly and let you finish. He sat back up again to rinse and spit before you helped him to the couch and get him settled into bed. You cover him up with one of your shirts then head back into the bathroom to help Sableye out. You tuck him to the opposite side of the couch using another shirt.

You're brushing your teeth when Gold opens the door rather loudly. "(Name)? I'm back! And guess how many numbers I--!!" You spit in the sink before rushing over to him and slapping him.

"Shhh!" You quiet him down. "I just put them to sleep!"

Gold blanks for a moment. "Oh! Oh yeah! Your Pokémon!" He whispers. "Anyway, this charmer has 3 numbers!"

"Woooow a real catch aren't you." You praise him sarcastically. "I've been gone for what, four hours and all you got were three?"

"Hey! There aren't many women my age around here! And I'd like to see you do any better!" He pouts childishly, sticking his tongue out at you.

You smirk. "Alright, tomorrow I'll go around and get twice the numbers you did!" In your exhausted state, you were very competitive, but not quite sure what you were doing. You promptly went to bed.

The next morning you stretch before falling out of bed. "Shit! What time is it? Gold? Gold? Sableye? Tyrogue?" You stand up and rub the arm you fell on. Looking at the time it read 11:47. But where was everyone? You began panicking and frantically throwing things around, looking for your precious Pokémon and a certain troublemaker.

You run into the bathroom and look around there. You turn to leave when suddenly The Man was there. You scream and back up as he reaches for you. "Wh-what but how?!" You detect odd movement in the mirror and glance over. Trapped inside was a boy your age, with similar hair and eye color to your parents. "Help...me! He won't...let me go!" He croaks, reaching out to you.

Shaking, you look back towards The Man only to see he was replaced by...a Pokémon known as Mewtwo. You stare at it, completely astonished and in shock as it grabs you by the throat and slams you against the ceiling. Two voices spoke at once, "you took them from me!"

You launch yourself upright in bed, breathing heavily. You look over at the clock and it reads 11:47. "Haha...what a weird dream..." You look around to see your Pokémon and Gold are missing...again. "Wh-what a coincidence!" You chuckle nervously. You wipe your forehead, only to be greeted by the sudden appearance of The Man again.

"...boo!" His body unravels itself to reveal Mewtwo again.

You bolt upright, screaming and crying. Hands grab your shoulders and you begin shrieking. "No! No! Please make it stop! Let me go!" You begin beating on his chest.

"Woah, woah, hey calm down (Name)!" He grabs your wrists and pins them to your waist. He then sits in your lap to keep you from kicking him.

You went livid and began yelling and screaming and crying, your body broke down and you melted into a puddle. Gold, the teen behind the voice, grabs you up and lays you on him as he leans on the backboard of the bed, your face in his chest as he rubs your back and pats your head in a comfortable hug. "It was just a nightmare, you'll be okay. Shhhh I'm here." He hums softly and rocks you back and forth a bit.

Your sniffles died down and you soon found yourself wrapping your arms around him tightly. Oh that boy is loving this. You think bitterly as you glower at the wall. Being the hero. Saving me. Who knows, maybe he'll ask a kiss from me as reward. Filthy pervert.

Gold looks down at you. "You seem to be calming down." His voice makes your heart skip a beat. The tone of voice was so unlike him. It was quiet and gentle, and held a light fondness to it. It was angelic and nothing you've heard before. "Would you like to talk about your dream with me?"

You hesitate a bit, speechless as you nibbled on your pajama sleeve. You look up at him sadly and shake your head. "It was too traumatic for words. It made me feel emotions I've never quite felt before."

"Perhaps it was love?" Gold jokes, his soothing voice fading into his usual chipper tones.

You punch him hard in the arm and get out of bed. "You're a creep and a bitch." You growl at him. "It's nothing to laugh about!!" You yell. You lock yourself in the bathroom and pout in the tub very childishly.

You faintly hear the hotel room door open, before Gold speaks up, "she's in the bathroom having a mood. I was only trying to cheer her up but of course I messed everything up. Anyway go get her, she's probably worried about you two." Gold's voice is deep with guilt.

The door unlocks itself from the inside with a bit of a certain someone's psychic ability. It opens slowly, revealing Tyrogue holding a tray of breakfast foods and Sableye with a few cups and near-full pitcher of your favorite breakfast drink. You were quick to notice everything was in extra-large portions, implying your Pokémon wanted to share with you.

"Thanks boys!" You smile warmly at them, completely forgetting about Gold and the dream. You kiss them each on the forehead and invite them into the tub, where you all sat in a row and used the lip of the tub as a tray to hold your meal.

As you eat, a shiver goes up your spine as you swear you catch a glimpse of a certain Pokémon in the corner of the bathroom mirror, watching you three eat...

\-------------------------------------

Sorry for being so ominous and spooky and just having a weird chapter in general.

Ughhhhh I know what I want to do but I don't know how to execute it.

Happy holidays!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	12. 11

You and Gold were all packed up and ready to go, waiting in the hotel lobby. You held Tyrogue's hand and Sableye draped his lazy body over your head. "Why are we waiting again?" Gold glances over at you, leaning against a wall in his boredom.

You apologized about calling him names earlier this morning, and when he asked about the competition for grabbing phone numbers, you shook your head and explained why you declined. "I don't quite feel as comfortable as you do, going up to strangers and asking their phone numbers, then have them hate me for not ever calling them again. It's...too risky for a girl like me." To your surprise, he agreed with you, worried for your safety.

"We were waiting for Sapphire, Ruby and Wally, but I haven't seen them. Perhaps they left us?" You wonder aloud, before heading over towards the front desk, leaving Tyrogue with Gold. Sableye was still on your head as you approached the lady at the front desk. "hello ma'am? I was wondering if you've seen three teens my age, two boys and a girl?" You ask her.

She types into her keyboard a few words. "Ruby, Sapphire, and Wally?" When you nod she adjusts her glasses, "I'm sorry but they left the hotel at 6:30." She frowns.

You sigh. You had gotten up at 9:16 and by now you had spent hours eating breakfast, packing, and waiting. It was 1:22 now. "Thank you." You run up to Gold. "It turns out they left hours ago, we should get going if we want to journey with them before we have to be back in Johto." You grab Tyrogue's hand and lead him outside, Gold following behind.

"Well fuck them, (Name). They didn't wait for us so what does that tell you about them?" Gold asks, slightly growling.

"Well they're busy people, as are we. True they could've at least dropped off a note but...whatever. The sooner we leave the sooner we get to the next gym, right?"

Gold sighs angrily, trying not to look at you as he pouts. His eyes suddenly light up, "wait, I have Typhlosion and I'm sure she can carry the both of us. We'll make it to the next town in no time!"

You stop abruptly. "You mean...This whole time we could've been saving so much time getting from one place to the next?!"

"And I have a skateboard!" The teen adds, oblivious to your anger, "But I haven't used it because I want to walk with you and keep you safe."

You try to keep your temper down, pinching the bridge of your nose. "Look, I'm very grateful for you wanting to stay with me, but do you really have to be so stupid about these things?"

Gold fiddles with his fingers, "I'm sorry (Name), it's just I've been so distracted lately with this whole 'new region' thing. Between the gyms, and the cute girls, and...You Know Who...and then there's your...odd behavior. It's all so new and strange."

You give him a suspicious look. "What 'odd behavior'?"

He looks up at you, "in a good way, of course. Interacting with you is so random and confusing, I could say the same thing under the same context, but you'd react so differently every time. It's interesting and it just makes you so..." He suddenly turns away, his cheeks the lightest of pinks. He mutters something you can't hear.

"What?" You ask him, trying to get him to look at you. Sableye rolls his eyes and slides down into the back of your hoodie, using the hood as a hammock.

"I said Typhlosion come on out." He replies quickly. He drops her Pokéball on the ground and it released the flaming creature, the ball flying back into its owner's hand. She lets out a grunt before stretching and cooing. She rolls onto her back, looking at Gold expectantly. He smiles warmly at his beloved starter, "oh alright, but it's going to be quick!" Typhlosion barks happily, as Gold starts tousling the fluffy fur on her belly. "Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl?!" He asks playfully, his starter chirping and squirming. He then blew raspberries on her stomach and she squealed. When he released her, she rolled over and shook herself out, cleaning dirt from her fur.

"What?" Gold asks you. Yes, he had caught you staring at him. Just the interaction between him and his Pokémon was so playful and sweet, it reminded you of a less restricted version of your bond with Sableye. Not to mention you'd never seen him like this. It really did distract you from his playboy behavior, and you were in awe. If he was like this more often, could you have possibly loved him? The more you thought about it, Gold really did have everything. He had looks, he had charm, he was funny, and sweet, and he does care. He wasn't quite the brightest, but he tried, and he was kind. So...what was it you didn't like about him?

You snapped out of thinking when the boy caught you staring. Heat began to build in your cheeks and ears as not only were you embarrassed and caught, but you remembered. I don't like him because he's a playboy, and that's not somethings you can change easily. Your subconscious smiling faded into a scowl. No, you could never love someone who would break your heart in the end. Ruby was your best option. "Let's just get going." You turned your back on him. You felt like crying. You knew it was wrong to think of Ruby as a "second choice" you absolutely had to have no more feelings towards Gold, not even mutually because if you took the tiniest peek over your walls, you'd be his toy until he broke you and left you with everyone else. No, you weren't everyone else. You love Ruby. You love Ruby and no one else. Gold is barely an acquaintance who knows not the first thing about you. That's better.

Gold grabs your shoulder, "hey, (Name) I'm sorry if I embarrassed you at all."

You tug away from him. "It's fine. I just want to be left alone. You and Typhlosion can go on ahead, I'll be right behind you." You lie.

(Right about here is a semi point of view shift. It's still in second person but the focus is more on Gold.)

Gold was rather concerned in your sudden change in behavior, but let you be. "Okay then. Just call if you need anything, alright?" He waits for your slow nod before mounting his Typhlosion and taking off at a slow pace. He wasn't sure why you were acting cold with him, and he almost wanted to cry. Was it...possible he liked you still? No, she's still just some quick thing. I just want to get in there... But his mind refused to see you in such a dirty way. To him you were refreshing, like a rose in a bed of dandelions. The rest were weeds, but you were a flower. All the pricks were not just obstacles, they were your worries, and he realizes now that you're not something to be avoided, you needed to be helped.

But how? He wondered. How can I help her if she hates me so much? He ponders the thought. He hates that he loves you, but even more so he hates that you have problems that you don't deserve. You weren't cold and distrusting for no reason. Did it have to do with the bangs over your eye? Now that he thought of it, you were rather careful about making sure your eye was covered.

He looks back to check on you, but you were gone. Panic instantly settles in his gut as his eyes scan the forest, looking for signs of movement. "(Name)?! (Name) where are you?!" He calls. When his ears are met with one of your screams, he orders Typhlosion to follow the noise and she takes off, Gold knowing The Man had found you once again. I'm coming, and this time I'm not letting that bastard hurt you.

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Well this happens. I give you a little insight on the relationship between you two. Hopefully it'll shed some light on the future?

In short, you love each other but you're both hiding it, because he thinks you hate him, but you think he thinks of you as a plaything.

Hgggggg goodnight

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	13. Chapter 13

As he neared the site of the scream, Gold found you running towards him. He was sorely mistaken for the purpose behind your scream. The Man had not attacked you, but rather you were being charged by a hoard of Pawniard, lead by their Bisharp leader. Your Tyrogue and Sableye were running alongside you as you held something wrapped up in your arms. You were covered in cuts and bruises, and your clothes had tiny tears in them.

"Gold!!" You cried out in shock. He had heard you? Second off, he had responded to your distress. Was it because he figured The Man was back again and he felt some urge to protect someone...weaker than him? You didn't like the thought and discarded it. You knew you needed help or you may end up dead. "Please help me!" You cried.

Typhlosion was quick to jump into action, leaving her trainer to catch up on her plan. He'd have to do it quickly though, you didn't have much time left before the Pokémon catch up.

She swerved her body to slide in behind you as you ran, before she spat a large flame at the group to keep them backed off. As she swung around to the front again, Gold barely managed to catch the hint, and grabbed you by the back of your hoodie collar. He hoisted you up and in front of him, allowing him to put his arms over your sides to protect you as he clutched Typhlosion to stop from falling off. He grabbed your Pokéballs for Sableye and Tyrogue and recalled them before they would get caught.

Once everyone was rescued, Gold began paying attention to you, letting Typhlosion do the running. Your breathing was rugged and you coughed violently as you tried to calm your body down. The boy's worry for you began to dwindle as he realized he was happy you were okay. In fact rescuing you made him feel giddy inside, and he rested his chin on your right shoulder.

You didn't like how he put his head on you, but you figured you'd tolerate it as an act of repayment. When you finally lose the group of angry pursuers, you take a break with Typhlosion, panting in front of you and Gold as she tried to calm down from the sudden run. Litten lay in your lap as you try to steady your breathing. You turn to Gold slowly, "...I'm sorry." You mutter to him.

This causes him some confusion. He sits up and faces you, "sorry...for what? You haven't done anything wrong."

You don't look at him, but instead hang your head low. "I'm sorry for messing things up and making you worried." You spoke softly.

You could hear the teen gasp lightly. "(Name), why would you think that? What happened?"

You hesitate, pursing your lips. "I was just...standing there after you left. Without you around, it was quiet, and I backtracked to a noise I heard not far off. Those Pawniard and that Bisharp were bullying this one," you tilt your arms to show Gold the nearly fainted Litten you rescued. "I...I had to do something, I couldn't let them hurt her, so I threw a rock at them before scooping her up. Of course they were angry and chased me down...thank you for coming back for me."

It's quiet next to you where the boy sits, and you start to worry a bit. Shortly after though, you feel a kiss against the side of your head. "(Name) that's wonderful. I'm not even mad that you lied to me, but rather proud that you were able to rescue this Litten, especially when you knew the numbers were against you."

"...Thank you, Gold." You whisper to him. You blush lightly, before you're overcome with pain. "Ngh!" you grip your side where a Pawniard managed to slash you.

"Are you okay?!" The boy cries, trying to look for the source of your discontentment as he crawls towards you.

"It's nothing, let's focus on helping Litten, alright?" You pulled your hand away from your side, only to have your wrist gripped by Gold. "What? Let go!" You tried to yank your arm out of his hold, but the fearful look he gave you made you stop.

Upon your hand lay a coating of blood, and in the center, a purple mass of liquid stuck to you. "You...you've been Poison Jabbed! (Name) why didn't you tell me?!" Without warning he grabs your shirt and pulls up. You panic, shrieking at him and trying to slap his hands off you, but he persists. He knew if he didn't check out the wound and do what he can for it, you might not make it. He reaches into your backpack and pulls out a water bottle, opening it and pouring the contents over the stab wound. Typhlosion helps him pin you down as you hiss and writhe in pain. He runs a hand though his bangs when he's done, before he remembers something he saw in a movie. He grabs the hem of his shirt and rips it, tying the black cotton around your abdomen before helping you back onto Typhlosion. He knew he had to hurry to the next town and get help for you fast. His Pokémon knew this too, and hurried off with the two trainers and the Litten on her back.

On your way there, the poison began taking effect, putting you in a delirious and hysteric state. You giggled to yourself "Gold, has anyone told you that, haha, you're the cutest? I love your hair." The boy ignores you. "Gold," you whine, dragging out the o, "I love you, but you're a playboy! Heehee!" you began nibbling on your fingers. Your head rolled back before snapping forwards as you struggled to stay conscious. Gold shifts his position to put an arm under your head. He wasn't quite sure if you were just spouting things, or if you meant any of them.

When Typhlosion ran in town, she and Gold scanned the area for a PokéCenter or a Hospital or anything. "Gold, where's (Name)?" A familiar feminine voice asks. It was Sapphire, followed closely by Wally and Ruby. Gold glares at Ruby, but decides now is not the time for a fight. "She's in critical health, can any of you direct me to a hospital?" He asks in desperation.

Sapphire and Wally gasp in fear, but Ruby marches up to Typhlosion. "I want to see her." He demands, trying to peek at the bundle leaning against Gold.

Gold pulls away from him angrily. "You can fuss over her when she's in a hospital!" He growls, frustrated at him. Ruby was so stupid! Why doesn't he understand you were in dire need for help?

"I-I know there's a PokéCenter there," Wally points to a large red building in the distance. "Please, make sure she gets well." He addresses to Gold. The kid then puts a hand on Ruby's shoulder, giving him a silencing look.

Gold thanks him quickly before Typhlosion rushes you to the PokéCenter. He doesn't even bother explaining himself to Nurse Joy, he just hands your unconscious body over, Litten still wrapped up in your lap. "Please, take care of them, the girl took a Poison Jab to the side."

"Right away, I'll let you know when you can come back." She nods, her eyebrows creased with worry. Beside her, a Blissey chirped before grabbing the Litten and rushing it off somewhere.

That was it. He'd done everything he could for you. He shivers a bit; gosh, it was much colder without you. He forced himself to take a seat on one of the nearby chairs. Typhlosion pads over to him and lays her head in his lap, giving her trainer a sad look. He puts a hand on her head, the other rubbing his nose as he sniffles.

He begins to cry, but why? Because even though he didn't like the snippy and aggressive attitude you gave him when you first met him, it was different to the usual goggling he earned from other girls. Where he could simply ask a girl out and she'd say yes, you coldly rejected him, then stomped out any hope of the two of you ever getting together. But as he spent time with you, he saw you change. He saw you adapt to him, and befriend him, even if you didn't see it yourself. You were one of his friends. Maybe that was why he cared about you, maybe it was why he loved you, you brought him change, and he didn't think of you like any other girl, a piece of eye candy to momentarily He remembers the last words you said to him, I love you, but you're a playboy. Of course, that was it. That was the reason you hated him, he didn't pay attention to you, but rather other people whom he barely knew. Oh Arceus, what a fucking hypocrite I am...telling (Name) she can't date someone when here I am, dating 5 different people per month, not knowing a single thing about any of them.

When she wakes up, I won't protest her loving Ruby anymore. I'll pay her more attention too. I know she's a sweet girl somewhere inside, and I'm going to treat her better.

"Gold? Are you crying?" Sapphire's voice echoes in his head.

He jumps at the suddenness of the noise. He quickly wipes his eyes and lowers his face, red from sobbing so hard. "No, I'm not." He replies gruffly.

Sapphire puts a hand on his shoulder, "hey, it's okay if you are. I wanted to make sure you were alright, I know (Name) was your best friend..."

Gold straightens up immediately, "'was'?! As in she's--"

"NO!!" Sapphire assures him that you haven't passed yet. "That was my poor choice of wording, but yes, I know she means a lot to you. Please, when she wakes up take care of her. As her best friend, she needs you." She gives him a sympathetic smile. "And I'm sure she'll be up and okay in no time."

Gold nods solemnly, running a hand through his bangs. "I just wish...that I didn't leave her behind. We kinda had a...actually I'm not sure if it was a fight, she just suddenly...looked at me like I was a stranger." He lets out a groan of frustration, "what did I do wrong? How did I upset her? She was smiling when she saw me play with Typhlosion, why did she stop so suddenly?" He began rambling to himself. He sighs and lays his head on the table, returning his Typhlosion. "You're a girl, talk to me."

Sapphire hums, somewhat concerned. "It's sweet you acknowledge me as one of (Name)'s friends but I'll be honest, girls aren't all the same. What's true for one of us could be different for another. If anything I'd just listen to her, and pay close attention to everything she does. Try to notice what she does and doesn't like. That's all I can really say."

Gold bangs his head against the table twice. "Thanks. I just want to be left alone for now."

Sapphire nods and joins up with Ruby and Wally, who are at the front desk, peering through the double doors in the back to see if they can catch a glimpse of anything.

The four of them waited for two hours, hoping you would turn out alright. When the doors opened, Gold immediately perks up and rushes to the front desk. "Hello there, (Name) and Litten are going to be just fine. You can come see them, but please don't wake them up, they need the rest." Nurse Joy lets the four teens into the back, where they crowded around your bed.

Gold was happy you were going to be okay, but his smile soon turned into a devastated look when he saw the blood that stained your clothes, and the bandages that adorned your fragile body. His heart sank when he noticed the little tray that held a bloody needle and some thread meant for stitches.

Wally, Sapphire and Ruby returned to their hotel room after staying with you and silently wishing for your health, but Gold stayed behind. He held your left hand in his. He wouldn't leave your side.

He hesitated when he looked at the bangs that covered your eye, should he look? He decided not to do it without your consent, but he did catch a glimpse of something shiny in there...

He stayed with you overnight, holding your hand, waiting for any sign of movement, crying as he prayed to Arceus you'd wake up.

\------------------------------------

Hngggg the feels in this one

I don't know what I'm doing with this book really, but I do know what the ending should look like.

Other than that, this has been the longest chapter so far, and I've also already prepared the next chapter! It'll be out in a minute or two.

Have a good day!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to kill god

A light blinded you, and you twitched, holding tighter something warm in your hands. Clothes rustled from next to you, and you felt a whisper on your cheeks, "(Name)? Are you awake?"

You hesitate to answer as you let your brain catch up with you. "...G-Gold?" You blink as your pupils adjust to the bright hospital lights. You could feet your heart beat as tears slipped into your hand. "Why are you crying?"

He's quiet, shaking as he looks at you, dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. "Are you really that fucking stupid?" He laughs, before reaching over and giving you a hug, avoiding the stitches in your side. "It's because you lived when I thought this was the end for you. You scared me, asshole."

You grin widely at him, "not even Arceus could take me down." You joke. You yank off his cap, toss it across the room, and roughly tousle his hair, causing him to laugh with you. "But seriously I don't think I'll pull a stunt like that again." You look over to see Litten, lying in a bed next to yours. "How's the little one doing?"

"She'll be fine. Nurse Joy says she's actually blind, and that's why she couldn't defend herself well. She's glad you rescued her." Gold explains.

"Yay." You cheer to yourself. "So...why am I in a PokéCenter?"

"Well...Poison Jab is a Pokémon move, and not really an injury a normal hospital can deal with. Nurse Joy told me that too." Gold pulls back from hugging you, wiping any excess tears from his face.

Litten begins fidgeting before she wakes up. She groans at first before she stands up, somewhat weak, and meows loudly. "Litten, it's okay, you're safe." The fiery cat turns sharply to face you, recognizing your voice. She mewls before walking carefully towards the edge of her bed, paws testing where she could step. When she's at the edge, she makes a leap towards you, landing on your bed right next to your left arm. She sniffs you before she stops near your big wound. She puts a paw on it before you wince away. She recognizes now the big sacrifice you made for her. She proceeds to jump back into her own bed and sleep like nothing happened.

You and Gold shrug it off before Nurse Joy enters the room. "(Name), you're awake! I'll let your other friends in right away." She leaves, only to return moments later with Ruby, Sapphire, and Wally. The trio make their way around your bed, excited you were doing well.

You're shocked when Ruby asks for everyone to leave, but even more so when Gold exits the room with Sapphire and Wally. He had a defeated look on his face, but when he saw you, he masked it with a smile. When it was just you, Litten and Ruby, the teen pulled you in for a hug before he kisses you on the cheek. You didn't really like that gesture, but let it slide because you were anticipated for what he wanted to say.

He smiles, holding your other cheek in his hand, "(Name), we thought we'd never see you again." Your heart rate soars as you begin to forget about Gold. "I dunno if this has become obvious to you or not, but you truly are a stunning piece of art. You are beautiful, selfless, and kind. I'm kinda shocked that you don't have a boyfriend yet."

You shrug, playing innocent, "I'm just looking for the right guy." You smile at him. All you could think about now was Ruby. How he was handsome, sweet, and...not a playboy. A frown tugs at your lips but you force yourself to keep smiling. Ruby was healthy for you. You wouldn't have to stress about him cheating on you or breaking up with you.

Ruby chuckles, "do you suppose..." He rather quickly grows nervous and forgets what he was going to say. "Uhm..." He blushes profusely, his nerves getting the best of him, "never mind!" He squeaks, tugging at the hem of his shirt.

Cute. You take his hand, "Ruby you've been in several performances before, haven't you? Why have I, a single person, brought you this nervousness?" You offer him a warm smile.

"Well...cause you're so stunning and pretty...and I like you a lot but I messed up because I was scared of being rejected." He mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. He leans into you and puts his face in your shoulder. He groans loudly, causing you to giggle.

"Awww Ruby," you pat the top of his head, "don't worry you're still my best friend!" You tease.

The boy only shrieks in response before fake crying. "Oh (Name), you're too mean!" He cries dramatically, turning away.

You burst out laughing, before grabbing him into a hug. "Of course I'll be your girlfriend." You hesitate before placing a kiss on his forehead.

Ruby gasps loudly, "wow! She kissed me!" He puts a hand over his heart, exaggerating as he looks back at you, "and she kissed me first! She beat me to the first kiss of the relationship!" You giggled at his antics, as you watched him flop onto the bed next to you.

"That's because you were too slow and being too silly." You affectionately tease him, pinching his cheek lightly. He's basically Gold but without the cheating! But...it still doesn't feel right. You push the thought away. Ruby is your boyfriend now, and Gold was nothing more than...a good friend...

Ruby smiles up at you, before stealing a kiss on your nose. He smiles at your shocked and flustered expression, "you're so cute!" He does it again, but you expected it this time and didn't react. "No, (Name)!" He whines, "you're supposed to look cute!"

"Why am I supposed to look cute? Why not pretty or smart? Hm?" You tease, and the two of you began laughing.

Yes, you were effectively distracted from the playboy pest known as Gold, and by none other than your lovely new boyfriend, Ruby.

\----------------------------------

Gold's a lil' upsetti that Ruby could steal you so easily, but he's glad you're at least happy.

It looks like you and Ruby are happy together, but for how long?

But yeah, two chapters in one day! Yes!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	15. Chapter 15

"Goodbye honey." Ruby smiles, kissing your cheek. He then exits the room.

You sighed, not knowing how to feel. You were happy, yes, you were with a kind boy who tried to make you smile and laugh, but now it would be awkward around Gold. Luckily you wouldn't have to deal with that right now. "Hey (Name), I'm glad you and Ruby got together...I'm just gonna battle the gym here, I'll be back in a half hour. I hope you feel better soon." He pokes his head in then leaves.

You frowned then turned over in bed, laying on your injured side just so you can check on Litten. It hurt at first but the pain subsided as you put up with it. She was curled up and sleeping. She was blind, and you wanted to help her.You wondered if she'd travel with you like Tyrogue and Sableye. Speaking of which, where were your Pokémon? You stood up quickly, which wasn't a good idea. Your legs were weak and numb from all the strain they took yesterday, causing you to stumble. You grabbed the curtains between the beds to try and stay up, but they just dislodged and the curtains came falling from the ceiling and you crashed on the floor, the metal bar holding them up hitting you over the head. Dizzy, you rubbed your head and sat up. A shadow loomed over you, and when you looked up, there stood a dark and blurry figure.

"Nurse Joy?" You asked. "S-sorry for yanking down the curtains, I wanted to know where my Pokémon were." You muttered sheepishly.

"They're right here." A familiar voice held up your utility belt, which contained two used Pokéballs with Sableye and Tyrogue in them. You could hear the anger in his voice as he spoke, "and you took something of mine, so I'm getting him back."

You knew he was talking about Tyrogue. "No!" You cried. "I won't let you!" you forced your legs to hold up your frail body, and you grabbed your belt as he reached for Tyrogue's Pokéball. You held his wrist with your other hand and pushed against him to try and prevent him from taking it. He suddenly gave up force, causing you to fall into him, before he pulled away from your grasp and clasped the Pokéball in his hand. In a quick movement, you reeled back and punched the man square in the jaw, causing him to drop it. His mask tilted a bit, and from under his hood you caught a familiar hair color, but you didn't dwell on it. You had punched him and from previous encounters, knew something was going to go down. You were right, and he wasn't going to give up so easily. He threw you into a wall before going for the Tyrogue. You didn't get it though, why was he so obsessive over a Pokémon he could catch almost anywhere he wants? You didn't think at all, you just lunged for The Man and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him back before you bit down hard into his shoulder. He grunted in pain then rolled over and crushed you under his weight, before scratching at your arms. He then grabbed your stitched injury as hard as he could, causing you to screech at the top of your lungs, and you let go of him. He stood up quickly before he went back for Tyrogue's Pokéball. You held your side in agony, as some of your stitches had come undone and you were bleeding out.

"That was...quite a fight...but you're too weak." You could hear the triumphant smirk in The Man's voice.

You looked up at him in defeat as you lay there, holding your wound. "Give him back..." you murmured in pain, "I loved him when you didn't..." you tried to stand up, to give one last ditch effort, but only fell to your knees. Luckily you weren't alone.

Litten, who could finally safely hit The Man without harming you, raked his arm with her long claws. He hollered loudly before backhanding her into the wall next to you. Unfortunately he was quick enough to react and still clutched thePokéball in his hand.

"Litten!" You cried, crawling over and touching her paw. "Litten are you alright?" She mewled in response before shuddering. "It wasn't enough, but thank you. You did great." You hugged her closer to her. She mewed again before her head turned to face yours. You looked into her milky white eyes, which seemed to hold more wisdom than anyone you ever knew. She gave you a nod before she began to glow a bright blue color. Astonished and confused, you backed away. You weren't quite sure what was happening, but that was because you'd never seen aPokémon evolve before. The blue mass suddenly liquefied before it shifted around, growing and changing, before it hardened again. When the glowing blue light died down, your eyes widened in awe. "A...Torracat?"

She meowed a deep and bellowing meow. She looked much more confident, standing up tall. She was quick to locate something in the mess the hospital room had become, and she kicked it hard. It flew out and hit a wall, giving a click as Sableye popped out next to Torracat. She meowed at him briefly before he nodded. They both stood in front of you in a protective stance. Sableye began to Mega Evolve.

As soon as they were ready, they began their attack. Mega Sableye held his large red gem up as it projected a light blue shield as Torracat built up a large ball of flame in her mouth. She then leaped and launched it at The Man, who didn't have any defense and just took it. On fire, he screamed and writhed about, dropping to the ground and in the process, Tyrogue'sPokéball too. Sableye was quick to scoop it up and return it to you, and you let out the smallPokémon. Tyrogue saw everything that happened from inside, and he began to cry. He wrapped his tiny arms around your neck, holding you close as he sobbed into your shoulder. You put an arm around his small body and pulled him into you. You were propped up on your elbow, holding your side as you continued to bleed.

You glared down at The Man as he lay on the ground, first and second degree burns everywhere. "He's made his choice. I suggest you leave before--"

You were interrupted by the door to your room bursting open. In the doorway stood Nurse Joy, who had a shocked and worried expression, and Gold, who looked angrily at The Man. He suddenly dashes towards him, before The Man throws down a smoke bomb and they're both lost in the smoke. Once it dissipates, The Man is gone and Gold is looking out the open window.

He growls in frustration. "Shit! I was supposed to catch him!" He slams his fist against the wall before sighing. He turns to you, "(Name), you're hurt!" He collapses next to you, holding your head under his arm.

"I'll...be fine...Sableye you know what to do." YourPokémon nods, shifting out of his Mega form and puts a hand on your side. A bright turquoise light emits from the wound as he uses Recover to heal it. While he's doing so, you look up at Gold. Your heart was a little crushed, but you knew it was for the best. You already knew the answer to your question as you pointed to the dolled-up looking girl, peering at you two from the door, "Gold?...Who is she?"

\----------------------------

Welp, shit's about to go down. Not yet, but soon.

Hope y'all are prepared!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	16. Chapter 16

Gold helped you up once Sableye was done healing you. "(Name), meet Splash, my girlfriend. She's a water trainer!" He seemed ecstatic to show her off to you, which only poured salt in the wound.

Your face held a dead and broken aura, but only to those who cared to look. Still you made the effort to play nice. "Hi Splash, I'm (Name)." You waved at her. What parents name their kid Splash? Unless it's a nickname. You thought bitterly. No, Splash was not a good name at all.

She waved back, before entering the room. She completely ignores talking to you and goes straight to Gold. "I'm so proud of you for going after the bad guy! You were so brave!" She gushed. She leaned on him in a way that bothered you a little, and by the looks of it, Gold too, but he chose to bear with it.

"Thanks baby." They share a kiss.

"No, thank you! That meanie could've hurt either of us!" She ignores the fact that you were nearly killed in that encounter. You can only watch as she steals the attention from you and showers Gold with affection, which he took like it was everything.

You were hurt, emotionally and physically, but also completely fucking pissed. You turn away and exit the room, Tyrogue, Sableye and Torracat following you out. Nurse Joy was pacing at the front desk, unsure what to do. "Uhm...hey Nurse Joy. Sorry about all the damage. I'll pay for all of it." It was something that would keep your mind off Gold and the girlfriend you hated already.

"No no, that won't do..." She frets. "I have to report this to the police, there's a criminal on the loose. If anything he should pay for the damage. I should be sorry I let him back there. He said he knew you, and I figured that...ohhh!" She cries out in frustration. "I don't know why he's targeting you, (Name)."

"It's alright. This is the police's job. You did great at healing up Torracat and I." You reply. Then you start to think, why were you being targeted? Was it something you said to him? Something you did? It didn't make sense. Perhaps you had something he didn't? You think back to the dream you had back at the hotel, was it possibly related? The small boy who cried for help had the same hair color as both your parents and The Man. No, no, there was no way the child you swapped with at birth was tracking you down, that's just a coincidence. Loads of people have the same hair color...and skin tones...

Torracat meows for your attention, effectively snapping you from your thoughts. "Yes girl?" You bend down and pat her head, scratching under her chin. She purrs in delight, before Sableye and Tyrogue join in and stroke her soft fur. She gives everyone long sniffs, before rubbing her chin and cheek against everyone, marking them as her friends. "You...wanna be caught?" You prepare a Pokéball, and toss it at her. She scoffs before swatting it away with her powerful forearms.

Astonished, you turn your full attention to the Pokéball, which lay on the floor in a heap of scrap. She had destroyed it. "Torracat why--?" You look back for her but she's gone.

Tyrogue squeaks before he grabs your hand and looks into your eyes with sadness and confusion. Sableye mumbles to himself. You smile at Tyrogue and rub his head, "it's okay Tyrogue. We're still her friends, she's just very free-ranged. I'm sure we'll see her again someday." You wrap your arms around both your Pokémons' waists and bring them closer to you as you sit. It's not long before a certain white-hatted boyfriend hears the news.

"(Name), (Name), (Name)! Are you alright?" He launches himself at you and wraps his arms around your neck. "Nurse Joy told me you were attacked, and as your lovely boyfriend, I'm here to provide support!"

You did not like the action he just pulled. You push the boy's arms off your neck and scoot away from him, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Sweetie what's wrong? It's me, your boyfriend, why can't I touch you?" He reaches out for you, only to have you crawl back from him again, trembling.

"Ruby, please...leave her alone, she's in shock. She had a fight with some man who wanted to do something with her, and he left her injured and ready to die." Nurse Joy interjects. "The best thing is to let her know you're here to listen to her, and that you'll respect her space. If you keep harassing her like that you may trigger a panic attack."

Ruby nods, sitting back down on his feet and staring at you, who had Sableye and Tyrogue huddled close to you. "Sweetie I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you're okay. Is there anything I can do to help you? Can you please tell me what happened?"

You blink a few times before slowly nodding. "I...he wanted to take Tyrogue away..." You instinctively wrap your arms around the Pokémon's torso and pull him closer to you, "I couldn't let him go without a fight, so I punched him...he then threw me at a wall before I tried choking him, but then he grabbed my stitches and pulled some out...it hurt so bad..." You started to break down crying, "I've never felt so weak and helpless before...he tossed me around like I was nothing..."

"It's my fault. I was only thinking of myself when I left to fight the gym leader with everyone else. If I had just stayed I could've protected you...I'm sorry honey." He pauses, thinking a bit. "To make it up to you, I'll take you on a date in the fifth city."

You perked up immediately. "What? But..."

"But nothing. You're a sweet girl going through a rough time and I'm going to make sure you're happy."

You had no words. You gave him a blank stare. A date? So soon? "Oh...okay. Thank you." You accept anyway. Besides, with Gold's girlfriend around, you might want to put a little space between him. Speaking of the devil...

"There you are, (Name)!" Gold waves at you, arm in arm with Splash.

You had no words for him, not for a player. Not for someone you knew was forbidden to love. You gave him a dead look, sitting on the floor, defeated and torn.

Gold wanted to cry, to hold you close, to kiss you all over until you would smile again. He knew it was wrong to drown his sorrows in another woman, but he didn't know what else to do. You were Ruby's, and that was that. He saw you in your most delicate and beaten shape, but he can't do a thing about it. He had wasted his last chance on a woman he barely knew.

\------------------------------------

I'm going to pull another "prepare several chapters". I'll see you all soon and sorry for the extra long wait! ><

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	17. Chapter 17

Ruby didn't dare put an arm around your waist as you had one over his shoulders. His hand would lay too close to your scar.

Gold followed behind you two, Splash at his side. He wasn't listening to her babbling, but rather wondered why your covered eye sparkled so much. He had seen it again through a small angle when you turned away from him.

Splash talked about a time she spent with her friends last week, oblivious to the fact no one listened, or even cared to.

You couldn't think straight. Occasionally you got a panicked feeling and would look down to the scar showing between your torn clothing, or out in the distance, searching for danger, but every time you would grab Tyrogue's hand and squeeze it for reassurance, then grab for Sableye's hand and do the same.

Gold watched you, and feared you wouldn't be the same, and it was all his fault. Maybe he should break up with Splash to spend more time with you and make sure you're alright. "Splash?"

"Yes honey?" She blinks at him.

"...I love you." ...He hopes his soul is used as Lampent food, or he's burned with Houndoom's flames. He watches as you perk up at his words, before you check your wound then grab the hands of your Pokémon.

It's when you get to the hotel does he finally hear your voice, although cracked and frail, "thank you Ruby. I'm going to be boarding with Gold again though, please don't be mad."

"It's fine sweetie, of course I won't be mad." Ruby kisses your cheek, but Gold recognizes that fake smile. Why didn't you mind his kisses, but Ruby's kisses made you upset? "I'll see you tomorrow, I love you!"

You nod, "I love you too Ruby." You turn to Gold before grabbing both of your Pokémon's hands.

Gold hated how you looked at him. You weren't glowing anymore. You were sad. You weren't like this when he left. You didn't blame him, but you didn't have to, the guilt of leaving you alone was enough. He promised you safety, but when you needed it the most, he failed to deliver.

He didn't even realize he was standing in front of the hotel room door. "Well ladies, this is our room." He noticed your reaction immediately, but got none from Splash. Of course, you knew him better. ...You knew him better. He didn't know what caused it, but he loved your smile.

Gold was...thinking? You didn't fail to notice how he stared at the door before turning to look back at you and Splash. You looked at him in confusion, before you smiled, but quickly covered it up when you caught him staring at you. This somehow caused you to break out of your shock. Gold's dumbass personality always managed to amaze you when you saw him doing normal human stuff.

"Okay, you can sleep with your Pokémon and I'll sleep with Gold!" Splash interrupts you two.

"No." Gold replies immediately. You almost want to laugh at Splash's bewildered stare.

"Wh-what do you mean 'no'?" She asks.

"(Name)'s in danger, it's my job as her friend to protect her, so I'll be sharing a bed with her."

Your heart sank. Splash was a very obsessive type, you could tell already. With The Man out and about, you didn't need her all over your ass either. "It's fine, Sableye and Tyrogue will protect me."

Gold gave you a "shut up!" look. "W-well you could still have night terrors."

You rolled your eyes. "Whatever. Just...be careful, alright?" The boy nods then gives you a sweet smile. However, you didn't fail to catch Splash's envious stare. You ignored her. Some jealous witch wasn't going to bother you.

You all piled into the room and took turns changing into pajamas. When it was Gold's turn, Splash turned to you, her Horsea nightgown grabbing her tightly. "Listen here, you better not pull any stunts with him. He's my boyfriend."

Tyrogue was exhausted, and already asleep. You turned to Sableye before the both of you snorted. "You dumbass!" You laughed quietly. "I have a boyfriend too, first off, and two, keep him! He ain't worth shit!"

Frustrated and only getting more angry, Splash looms over you threateningly, as you were pretty short compared to her, "that's a warning. What are your two dinky Pokémon gonna do against my whole team?"

Sableye hisses at her and flattens his ears. You pick him up and pet the top of his head, trying to calm him down. "I wouldn't say that." Your face darkens into a frown.

"I'm not intimidated by you." She retorts, before she struts away from you.

You honestly felt like kicking her in the kneecaps. Instead you hold your Pokémon close, rocking him back and forth before kissing his forehead and laying him down to sleep on the opposite side to Tyrogue on the couch. You then snuggle under the covers of your bed and warm yourself up.

Gold exits and is immediately pulled to the side by Splash. "Oh Goldy, can you please sleep with me tonight?" She whines, desperately showing off her body in attempt to keep him away from you.

In an odd twist to you, he declines. "No thank you, I've got to stick with (Name). She's just been through a lot, and I owe so much to her. She's my main priority."

"And what about me? I'm your girlfriend!"

"Are you...really that selfish?" He asks her, hoping to manipulate her into letting him do what he wanted. You took careful note.

"No..."

Gold leaves her without another word and you feel a weight next to you as the teen joins you under the covers. Splash turns out the light and promptly falls asleep out of anger. Gold presses his chest against your back, and slides an arm under your uninjured side. You didn't know what to do, he was soft and warm, but it felt so awkward.

You turn a bit so you can at least look at him. "Why me?"

"Hmm?" He gives you a confused look that you can barely see in the dim light from the window. "What do you mean?"

"I mean...why are you sleeping with me tonight? We both have partners, why don't you sleep with Splash?" You ask.

Gold sighs then smiles. "You're a sweet girl, (Name). I wasn't there when you needed me, but from now on I'll always be here for you." It's quiet for a moment. "And believe it or not...I still love you."

It's quiet for a moment. "I wish I could love you back." You reluctantly admit.

"I understand. I just hope that you can be happy with Ruby."

The two of you huddle closer for warmth, and although it was quiet, it was comfortable. You soon drifted to sleep.

A familiar child stood in front of you crying. It was the same boy from your last dream, the one who looked like he was the exact replica of your parents. You were bleeding out again in the hospital room, and you panicked, grabbing your side. Before you knew it, the child flung his tiny arms around your torso and hugged you tightly, shaking as he sobbed. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." He sniffles.

"But it wasn't your fault, I don't even know you." Unknowing what to do, you pat his head and rub his back.

"It is my fault, it really is! It stole my desires and twisted them. It won't let me go!" He began crying harder before he froze. He was alert, listening for something. "It can't find me." He said in a deep, dark voice, before he began flickering then disappeared.

"Hello?" You whispered. You were about to stand up when you were pushed back down by The Man.

His voice came out in two tones at once: "I'll kill you for everything you've done to me." His voice rung in your ears louder and louder until the ringing became unbearable.

You nearly launched yourself out of the bed, tears pouring from your eyes. It was morning in Hoenn. Gold woke up immediately and harshly pulled you back down into the bed. He wrapped his arms and legs around you, and forced your head into his chest.

"It's just another bad dream." He mumbled into your ear. "You'll be okay, I'm here with everything I got."

"...did you say...another bad dream?"

"Yeah. This is your third or fourth, why?" He asks.

You sat there stunned. "What did I do?"

"Well the first time, you were screaming that you were bleeding, I held you close until you fainted. The second time you were crying out and you started hugging me super tight, and...oh, this is your third time." He saw you looking distressed, and pulled you into a tight hold. "It's alright. I promise you that next time we see him, I'll defeat The Man and send him to jail."

"You're...too sweet." You smile at him, wiping tears from your eyes. You were careful about cleaning your keystone, residing in your socket.

Gold hesitates. "I was...wondering about...your eye?"

You gave him a blank stare. "What eye?" You think over what you said. "I mean which eye, of course I have eyes, I mean who wouldn't? Haha..."

Gold doesn't even mind you didn't answer him yet. He grabs your cheeks and pinches them, "you're rambling! So cute!" He beams.

You whine and pull away from him. "I'm not cute! Anyway, I just...keep my eye covered so it will be used to the dark and I can see better at night...like a pirate!" You make up a quick excuse.

"That's cool." Gold seems to buy it. However, deep inside he knows you're lying. You were nervous, something he hadn't seen from you before, not to mention why don't you just buy an eyepatch?

Because it was a hairstyle, one that would draw less attention than an eyepatch, so you could go about your day as a normal person.

\---------------------

Another part y'all! Splash is still getting her beauty sleep. She needs a full 12 hours of sleep. (I mean I do too but I stay up to 1 and wake 6-7 hours later. She sleeps from 8 (20) to 8. Y'all are up at 7:30ish.

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah the vote at the bottom was already held and Hitmonchan won

By the time everyone woke up and got ready to leave, it was 9:30. You tried to urge Splash into ditching the makeup routine but she had none of that. She was going to put on her face whether it took a half hour or not. You personally didn't give two shits about the way you looked, but you let her be before it escalated.

Sableye absolutely hated her and did not want to be within five feet of her as you, Tyrogue, Gold, Ruby, Sapphire, and Wally made your way into the next town. On the other hand, Tyrogue was skittish of her, and specifically wanted to stay with you. He wouldn't even hold Ruby's hand when he was between you two. Instead he swapped sides and held your left hand.

Ruby, Sapphire, and Wally would occasionally halt the group to catch a wild Pokémon, most of which resulted in the Pokémon fleeing from battle or fainting. Sapphire did happen to catch a Wurmple, and Wally a Zigzagoon, but Ruby came up empty handed. You giggled at his misfortune. "Poor Ruby!"

"You know what, I'd like to see you do any better!" He pouts playfully, handing you a Pokéball.

"You know what? I will!" You smirked. You trod into the wild grass, searching for a Pokémon. Tyrogue hesitantly stayed with Gold, and Sableye with Ruby. You can hear grass rustling next to you, and you turn towards it. You had no clue how to catch a Pokémon, since you've never done so yourself, but you've seen the Hoenn trio work at it, so you think you got this. You see it's a Rattata, and you aim the Pokéball at the unsuspecting creature, when you're bullet tackled into the gut by a flash of white. The Rattata runs away.

"(Name)!" Gold and Ruby cry out worriedly. Sapphire and Wally gasp and Splash...just smirks. Tyrogue's in tears and Sableye looks ready to murder whoever hurt you. They make their way towards you, only to stare in confusion as you laugh.

You held a Togetic in your arms, laughing and smiling as she purred and chirped and rubbed her friendly little head against yours. She really seemed to like you.

Gold stared at you in both shock and confusion, but it soon faded into a teary smile. He knew Togetic only really liked kind people. No one seemed to notice him though.

Ruby was quick to give you a hand. "Are you alright sweetie?" He grabs your hand and hauls you up.

"I'm fine!" You assure him, letting go of the Togetic. She flits around your head in excitement. "Well a big 'hello' to you too!" You tell her, laughing. She giggles with you.

Sableye being very protective of you, scrambles up your back and clings to your head. He hisses at the Togetic, but she just blows a raspberry at him before turning her attention back to you. She grabs the Pokéball from where you dropped it in the grass, and hands it to you.

Confused, you hole the Pokéball up to her for her to go in, but she just shakes her head and jumps back, getting into a fighting stance. "Oh! You wanna test my strength?" Sableye does not hesitate to engage battle, ready to take her down. "Actually Sableye, I'd like to give Tyrogue a turn, if that's alright?" Sableye mutters under his breath before retreating to your shoulder. He pouts until you pat him and give him a kiss. "Tyrogue, you can do this, right?"

The said Pokémon nods hesitantly. He awaits your command. "Okay, Tyrogue, Fake Out!" It wasn't a very powerful move, but it was free damage. Tyrogue made a fast attack for the Togetic and she flinched. "Sweet! You know Bullet Punch?" It must've been an egg move. Sableye was level 32 by now, and Tyrogue level 19, so he needed leveling up. You would let the two train together and as a result, within three days Tyrogue had definitely gotten stronger. This Togetic looked fairly young to you, so you figured she might be a few days old, like Tyrogue, and have an equal if not lower level than him.

You knew your basic type match ups so, "Tyrogue, use Bullet Punch!" He sped towards the Togetic, who took the hit with ease. It was super effective no doubt, but she must've been higher level than you thought. She then makes her turn. She waves her little hand, indicating she was using Metronome, and soon her fist flew into flames, and she gave Tyrogue a sturdy Fire Punch.

He took the hit, but then flinched. The Togetic had hit him under his scarf in the scar, which was vulnerable to status. It left him with a burn. You feared for him at first, but understood when he gave you a mischievous little grin. He had the Guts ability, and with that burn, his power was raised.

"Tyrogue, another Bullet Punch!" The young Pokémon lurched forwards, knocking Togetic to the ground doing so. Togetic was impressed, but she was going to fight until she fainted. She used another metronome, this time using Peck.

Tyrogue was on his last leg after taking burn damage. Togetic also looked pretty beat up. It was anyone's game. As long as she didn't hold Protect, Tyrogue could win this. "I believe in you, Tyrogue! You can do it!" His fearful looked relaxed after seeing your encouraging face. He cries out to you, and relaxes himself. You wondered to yourself, thinking deeply. You could predict either wrongly or correctly Togetic would use Protect. You could try to heal, and risk it, or fight and risk it. You looked into Tyrogue's eyes, filled with both wisdom and wonder. In that moment, you knew what to do.

"Tyrogue, use--"

"Mightyena, use Dark Pulse." An all-too familiar voice catches you off guard, and a large grey dog leaps from the brush beyond.

How long had The Man been following you?!

Everyone yells as they scramble to stop you before you did something stupid. However none of them could catch you as you rammed into the Mightyena with all your strength to knock it down before it could hurt your Pokémon. You stumbled back when it scratched at you, before hurdling a dark purple sphere pulsing with energy towards your beloved Pokémon.

Tyrogue's little eyes widened in fear as it neared him, until there was a loud explosion and a large cloud of smoke.

"No!!" You yelled, eyes in tears. You knew that yeah, he could probably just get healed at a PokéCenter, but Pokémon still can die if they're injured beyond repair. Wally and Sapphire tried to comfort you, holding you back before you hurt yourself.

Gold and Ruby took out their Pokémon to fight The Man, but he was nowhere to be seen, as he completed his job and left, using the smoke as a distraction.

From the middle of the smoke erupted a bright green light, shifting through the dust, next it faded into a light blue color, then a yellow-orange, before disappearing completely.

As the dust settled, you saw a figure, standing there with a Pokéball in its hands. He wore a familiar shy grin and his favorite little scarf.

"Tyrogue? Is that you?"

\------------------------------------

I dunno if it's obvious that I gave up near the end, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting! It's been nearly a month!

Also, I'm holding my first vote! Let me know if Tyrogue should evolve into a Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, or Hitmontop!

Thank you for your patience!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna say something but I forgot. Also my hands are cold even though I have on a coat, blanket, AND the heat is on in my house. That's anemia for you babey!!!

You gasped at the sight, "Hitmonchan?" Tyrogue must've hit level 20 at the impact of the Dark Pulse, and evolved. In his little boxer-like hands lay a Pokéball, the Togetic inside. "Hitmonchan!" You called to him again. He still had the blue scarf around his neck, that was how you recognized it was still your little Tyrogue. You stumbled over to him as you ran, then wrapped your arms around him in a hug. Sableye was also rather happy with this, and hugged his leg. He started to go limp, weak from battle. You kissed his forehead, "you did well, baby boy. Take a good rest." You returned him and clipped his and Togetic's Pokéballs to your utility belt.

You stuck your tongue out at Ruby, "ha! I did catch a Pokémon!"

Your boyfriend muttered something, pouting. "Good job (Name)." He gives you a peck on the cheek.

"Alright lovebirds, let's just keep going!" Sapphire laughs, leading the two of you and Wally towards the next city.

Yes, this was how it was meant to be. No Gold, just you, your friends, Sableye on your shoulder, holding your boyfriend's hand.

You took a glance behind you at the heartbroken heartbreaker. How ironic. You push the guilt away.

In the next city, everyone rushes to the Pokémon center to heal up their Pokémon. Ruby was being an absolute gentleman, and let you go before him. "So," Sapphire smiles, "(Name), since you and Ruby are gonna go on a date, while the boys are battling the gyms, we should go shopping for you!" She turns to Splash, "you can come too, Splash! It could be a girls' night!"

You swallow the lump of dread in your throat at the mention of Splash. "Sure. Sounds fun." You nod.

Splash claps and cheers. "Oh my gosh! Yes!!" She squeals.

"Then it's settled! We're going now! Bye boys!" Sapphire grabs both of you by the arms and heads off to a shop nearby.

Gold turns to Ruby and Wally. Wally was off, inside the gym already. It was just Ruby and Gold. The teen clenches his fists, taking in a deep breath then exhaling slowly. "...(Name)'s...a really special girl. You know that, right?"

Ruby turns to Gold, somewhat confused. "Yeah? She's really pretty."

"Is that all?" Gold asks, deeply concerned.

"No, but that's a really important thing for me. As a performer, beauty is something pretty high on my standards list." Ruby nods.

Gold grabs a fistful of his hair out of anger. "She's more than her looks, man. She's fierce and independent, but also sweet and funny." Tears start leaking out of his eyes. "Sometimes she gets so lost and scared, but you have to be there. You have to be there for her every damn time because when you aren't, you're hurting her."

Ruby gives him a funny look. "Are you alright? You sound a little crazy."

"Yes! I am crazy, Ruby. I am crazy; crazy in love with her, but I can't have her because of things I did, but you know who does have her? You. You have her, and you better fucking promise to take care of her, and love her through all her highs and lows, because I swear to Arceus if you don't, I will find you, and you won't like it when I do." Gold sniffles and wipes tears from his eyes.

Ruby, rather uncomfortable, looks away a moment. "I-I'll try my best..." The rest of the waiting time is awkwardly silent.

"Oh, don't forget this one!" Sapphire hands you yet another dress to try on.

"Ugh, at this rate I'll be here all day! There must be a million dresses in this pile!" You complain. All your Pokémon had to be in their Pokéballs because the store didn't want them roaming free. That was understandable though, sometimes a Pokémon can be very unpredictable.

"Stop exaggerating," Splash sneers. "It's only 5."

You send her a hateful glare. Of course, Sapphire was oblivious to it all. "Well now it's 6..." She whistles, handing you yet another dress.

"That's it! That's all! I'm trying these one before you find any more." You dash off towards the changing room, and locked the stall door. The first thing you did was check the price tags, and eliminated dresses you couldn't afford. This left you with two dresses. One was a body-hugging dress, in an ugly shade of green, courtesy of Splash, but the second one was rather appealing to you. It had a black bodice with a white ribbon, and a (favorite color) skirt. It was perfect and fit you wonderfully. It was pretty simple, but you were just 15, so it's not like it mattered.

Then a second thought struck you, would Ruby like it? You frowned, then sat down. You looked at the mirror, pulling your hair back to reveal your keystone eye. Your feet moved in a fidgety manner, as you looked at your body. Would Ruby like you? You weren't rich, or really that pretty...

A knock on the door startled you, "(Name), what's taking so long?" Sapphire's eager voice was on the other side. You looked at yourself and smiled. Who cared what Ruby thought? This was a nice dress, and you felt nice wearing it. You opened the door and gave a twirl to show it off. Sapphire clapped, "you look so pretty! Now we just gotta find you some shoes and jewelry!"

You paled. "But that's so much more shopping," you complained.

"Oh nonsense, here, try these shoes on first!"

You ended up leaving the store with a new dress, a pair of black flats, and a (favorite color) bow for your hair. You let out your three Pokémon for some air, and they were happy you got out of that store.

The three of you checked into the hotel. However, Splash made sure that she was going to be sharing a room with Wally and Gold, while you were with Ruby and Sapphire. Fine by you though, you wouldn't have to deal with Gold nor his dumb girlfriend. You decided to let your Pokémon run around and play together.

Finally the boys showed up, Ruby and Gold were rather tense around each other, but you seemed to be the only one who noticed. "What's up with them?" You ask the small boy known as Wally. You realized you didn't talk to him as much as anyone else.

His voice was soft and quiet as it always was, almost a whisper, "I'm not sure. I would say a fight happened, but Gold looked indifferent while Ruby looked a little off-put. They were fine when I went to battle the gym, but when I came out they were acting weird."

"Did you win?" You asked him.

He smiled shyly and held up a badge, "of course! Kiralia and I are unstoppable!"

"That's wonderful," you ruffle his soft, green hair, "thanks for the info, too, I'll talk to them." Sapphire took your place to talk to Wally

Gold noticed you and walked up to you, "what's up?" You didn't reply, you just grabbed him by the ear and kept walking until you were off in a different corner. "Ow, ow, ow! My ear!" He yelped. When you let go, he rubbed it. "That hurt, (Name), what's wrong?" His anger turned to worry very quickly.

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Between you and Ruby! What happened?!" You detected movement in your peripheral vision, and took a quick glance to see Ruby talking with Splash. This worried you a bit, but you did not show.

"Just a small argument between us. No biggie." You could've sworn you heard Ruby mutter your name. Splash then glared at you, which the corner of your eye would not let you miss. "Although I might've hurt his feelings a little bit." Gold laughs a bit. "It would explain why he seems so spacey right now."

You grabbed Gold by the wrists, "please Gold, I want the truth." You saw right through his lies.

"Fine." He hesitates a bit, looking around. "I noticed we aren't sharing a room together tonight. If you meet me at midnight, I can tell you, alright? Promise?"

You hesitate. Gold was not your best friend, Cameron was. However, with him gone, Gold was the next best option. You sighed as you have him your final answer, "if you're not out between 11:50 and 12:20 you'll lose my trust."

Gold smiles and nods eagerly, "of course! See you at midnight!" He dashes off to greet Splash.

Meanwhile Ruby comes over to you, "what were you and Gold talking about?"

"Apparently the two of you had a hissy fit." You giggle. "What about you and Splash?"

"We talked about the hissy fit too." He smiled. You knew something was up. Ruby had very clearly said your name, was the big fight over you?

\-----------------------------------

Heeheehee.

So y'all unanimously voted for Hitmonchan so congrats on your new Hitmonchan!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	20. Chapter 20

It was nearly 11:50. You lay down, restless in bed. The boys didn't mind sharing a bed, because they both thought you'd feel uncomfortable sleeping beside a boy. It was somewhat true, just...Gold didn't make you feel uncomfortable when he slept beside you. You ran a hand through your hair, revealing your keystone eye before covering it back up. You were terrified that Ruby would hate you if he saw your keystone eye. After all, no one else who knew about it liked your eye. Except Cameron. Arceus knows how you've missed your best friend. How would he react to seeing all your new Pokémon friends?

Speaking of which...you look over at Hitmonchan, who had Togetic nestled under his arm. Sableye was curled up on the pillow next to you. Now that Hitmonchan had a sleeping partner, as he expressed he didn't like sleeping alone, your beloved Sableye could sleep beside you like old times.

"Fuck." You muttered angrily, looking at the clock which finally read 11:50. You didn't want to get out of bed so soon...all warm and comfy... On the count of three, you'd rip off your sheets. One, two, yank! You stood up and out of bed, causing it to creak as little as possible.

The next obstacle was the heavy door. You coughed loudly to make sure the boys in the bed next to yours were asleep. Wally stirred, but Ruby was out like a light. You decided to take a gentle approach to the door, and opened and closed it slowly, making minimal noise.

You climbed a set of stairs to the floor above you, where Gold was staying with Splash and Sapphire. You scratched your neck awkwardly as you didn't see anyone around. Figures you'd be earlier than him. A quiet "psst" caught your attention, and you turned to see Gold hiding near the elevators. He waved you over.

You stood in front of him, back leaning against the wall for support. "So?"

"...So what?" He squeaked, pressing his forefingers together and averting his gaze from yours. Whatever happened between him and Ruby, he knew you wouldn't like it. He was trying to avoid telling you.

"Gold please...I'd really like to know what happened between the two of you. You're my friend and Ruby's my boyfriend." Gold scowled at the sound of that. "I'd like it if you two could please get along. Arceus Gold, please tell me what's wrong!"

Tears pricked his eyes, and he sniffled. "I...I'm scared..." He wiped his face against his hoodie sleeve.

You softened a little, and put a hand to his cheek. "Of what?"

"I don't want you to hate me..." His voice cracked. "I don't want you to think I'm obsessed..." Tears welled up before one or two spilled down his cheeks.

Your heart broke a little. "Please Gold...please tell me what happened. I promise I won't think badly about you."

His wet golden eyes met yours, and he dried his face a little before drawing a shaky breath. "Ruby knows that I love you...a lot. I told him to take care of you; to do all the things for you that I wanted to. I threatened him that if he didn't I'd hurt him...I'm crazy about you, (Name), I really truly love you a lot."

Your ribcage tightened around your lungs and heart. He...what?! Threatened Ruby?? Thoughts swarmed in your head. "You...you...I...what??" You couldn't think straight. "I-I-I don't understand, why would you say something like that?" He flinched at your harsh tone of voice. You noticed this and sighed. "I'm sorry Gold, I--"

"No." He interrupted you, "I should be sorry. It's my fault. He said that he loved you for your beauty, and that just...hurt me inside. You're more than just looks, (Name). I'm sorry for threatening him, I thought he deserved it, but I guess I'm the jerk huh. You're taken and I need to know my boundaries."

"Gold wait, wait, wait, I accept your apology, but what did Ruby say about me?" You back him up.

Gold gives you a confused look. "That Ruby likes the way you look? He thinks your really pretty, but that's all he wants from you."

You didn't care about what Gold said. Ruby thinks I'm pretty? Your heart swelled inside and you tried not to make a goofy grin. "So...that means Ruby really likes me..."

"Yeah...can...as your friend can I ask you something?"

"Sure!" You smiled at him.

Gold didn't exactly like that smile. Behind that smile was a potentially abusive boyfriend, who cared just for looks. "What...are we then? What am I to you?"

You pause. You think rather hard. "I think...I've given up on you, Gold. We've both got partners, and even if we didn't, you're still a playboy. I can't deal with the potential of you cheating on me, but definitely leaving me once you're bored with me. Being a playboy isn't something you can just change." You frown, rubbing your arm and looking away from him. "It's best we stay friends."

Gold was heartbroken. You loved someone who could hurt you in the end, and you completely friend zoned him. He knew that even though he was a playboy, he would stop just for you. You were different, you didn't slave over trying to please him, when was the last time you even complimented him? You didn't give two fucks about him, yet that was something he admired about you. Independent, didn't take shit from anyone, but somehow under all that, you were smart, funny, and caring about those close. Was that why Cameron was your best friend? Cameron saw something he didn't see the first day he met you, and that was all the underlying kindness under those harsh barriers.

Gold fell to his knees, staring blankly at your legs. You...didn't need him as much as you needed Ruby.

This concerned you. "Gold what's wrong? Are you alright?" You knelt down in front of him.

He began crying again. "I...I fucked up! Arceus I just--" he grabs his hair and yanks. "Arceus (Name), I'm a fucking idiot." Gold laughed through his cries. "I...I tried to love you so hard, but...it just doesn't work that way...Arceus why was I so blind?! I can't just give you love...I have to prove myself, and I wasted every chance I got like a fucking dumbass."

You panicked a little. "Gold, c-calm down, alright? Take deeps breaths; in and out, there you go."

He calmed down a little. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to prove myself (Name). Please know that I still love you very much."

You smiled and nodded. You wanted to get away from him though before you would get dragged back into love with him. You tried so hard to force him out, and although you still had feelings for him, you knew you shouldn't. However, you couldn't just leave. "Do you want something to feel better?" You asked.

He hesitated. Would he want you even more if he got this one thing? But...this was his only chance... He nodded at you. "Just one thing please..." He waited for you to nod before he began leaning into you. He put his arms on either side of your hips, blocking you. He finally planted a firm kiss, full of longing, against your lips. He fully expected you to turn away, and was utterly surprised when you pushed back against his lips with equal force, wrapping your arms around his neck. He pulled back for a breath before kissing you again and again. He pulled four kisses out of you before testing some luck. For the fifth kiss he slipped his tongue between your lips, to which you accepted him, and he began to initiate a full blown make out session.

You weren't sure why you were doing this. These kisses...made you shiver and feel slightly tingly inside. You enjoyed this feeling, and kept kissing him. When he wanted to French Kiss you...you let him. You knew damn well this was cheating on Ruby but...it felt so right to you...you could only hope you weren't caught. You tried to tell yourself to stop but...

Gold laid you down on the carpet of the hotel, all while still kissing you. He grabbed your waist before moving down. You let out incoherent mumbles and small chirps as his breath tickled your neck. He tried so hard to not let himself go on you like a wild animal, but it was so hard with you looking so enticing...he gave you gentle kisses and small licks, aware he could've easily marked you for himself. He took a second chance, one very risky, and began easing a hand up your shirt. He just wanted to claim you so bad, but knew it could ruin your relationship with Ruby and...he didn't want that. He wants you to be happy...

As he slowed down, your brain got to catch up with everything and you panicked a little. You threw Gold's hand out from under your shirt, and backed away from him, frightened. The two of you looked each other in the eye, searching for something. Gold was disappointed in himself, and same went for you. How dare you stoop to his level! You shook your head violently. "No, no, no! Nononononono! I fucking--!" You stopped yourself and hit yourself in the head as punishment.

Gold immediately grew worried and grabbed your wrists, pinning them down. "Hey, hey, hey, please (Name), please don't hurt yourself!"

Your breathing slowed until you stood up. Your voice was high-pitched and nearly came out as a whimper as you spoke. "What have you done to me..."

Gold knew damn well cheating was forbidden to you, yet he ignored that fact when he kissed you. He should've done a quick peck and left it at that. He watched you flee, down the stairs towards your hotel room, where you washed your face and neck. Gold regretfully retreated to his room. He was sorry for himself, yes, but felt even worse about you. He hurt you, the last thing he wanted to do.

You silently sobbed in the hotel room bathroom, stuffing your mouth and nose with the fabric of your shirt sleeves to muffle any escaping noises. You cried and cried for several minutes, until you were dry. You dried your eyes and blew your nose before getting into bed. Still upset, you hugged Sableye's tiny body to yours. Half sleep, he welcomed the warmth and snuggled into your hold.

It was 2 in the morning. You couldn't stop all the bad scenarios from entering your head. What if Ruby find out? Was the most prominent. However, you started to become impossibly drowsy and nearly ready to pass out. Before you fell asleep one final thought buzzed in your head; Ruby...only likes you for your beauty...

\---------------------------

:0 ooooh things are getting spicy.

Lots of drama underground.

Just think, Splash heard everything Gold told you through Ruby, so you still gotta deal with her.

I hope you enjoyed!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	21. Chapter 21

Ruby nudged you awake. "Wh-what?" You muttered, sitting up. You rubbed your eyes, and frowned when everything started coming back to you. You weren't sure whether to be more pissed off at Gold, yourself, or...you turn to look at the boy sitting in your bed. Ruby.

"Wake up, silly!" He smiles at you. He had your brush in his hand. A little creepy, but not so much as what he did next. He began brushing your hair, styling it a little. It felt odd but also soothing as he brushed out tangles. You hadn't combed in the past however long you had been here.

Before he could reach your bangs, the one covering the keystone in your eye, you harshly gripped his wrist. You sent him a cold glare. "Do not touch my hair...please." You added at the end, trying to calm down as you released him.

He scoots back, frightened. Sableye crawls over and sits in your lap protectively. "I'm sorry (Name), I just--"

You cut him off, "no, I'm sorry. I snapped at you when I shouldn't have. I'm just tired." You gave him a forced smile, which he didn't seem to pick up on.

"Aw I'm sorry." He gives you a kiss on the cheek. "I'll get you some breakfast!"

"It's alright." You grab his sleeve, sitting him on the bed once again. "Where's Wally?"

"In here!" You hear his voice in the bathroom. "I'm getting dressed right now but, ack, you can have it after me!"

You exhale sharply in place of a laugh, before walking up to your backpack. You grabbed out a t-shirt and some shorts, seeing as you were going to be walking to the next city now. Once Wally was out, you slipped in, taking a quick "hose down" before drying out and dressing up.

You wake up Hitmonchan and Togetic, who were snuggling each other happily, and then make your way to the hotel lobby. It was a little sad to know Hitmonchan would stop holding your hand for safety, but heartwarming to see he went from timid to bold.

You waited with your Pokémon and the boys for ten minutes until you saw Splash storm out of the hotel. She raced past you with the most vile glare as she forcefully shouldered you. Sableye hissed a warning out to her, and probably would've attacked her had you not scratched his chin.

Shortly after that encounter, Gold and Sapphire came out of the elevator. They were both silent.

"Hey what happened? Why is your girlfriend so mad?" Ruby asks.

"She is...not my girlfriend anymore." Gold says somewhat darkly. He catches you staring at him before you turned your head, refusing to give him any sympathy. He knew he probably deserved it.

"Oh...well I'm sorry that happened." Wally pipes up.

Gold shrugged, "I didn't like her anyway." This time Ruby looked at you.

You met with no one's glances this time. "Let's just get going. The sooner we leave, the sooner I can go home." You didn't leave time for anyone to answer and just left.

Sapphire suddenly speaks up before you could reach the edge of town, "I didn't get to complete the gym!"

You went with everyone else to the gym. After a while, you started to feel like you were being watched. You looked around skittishly but saw no one. Perhaps it was because you skipped breakfast... You stood up, "I'm gonna head to the market, see if there's anything to drink. Possibly some TMs to buff my Pokémon." You added a laugh for effect.

"Alright. Don't be too long. I love you." Came Ruby's reply.

"You too." You left the bench everyone was waiting at and headed off.

You were nearing the market when you were tackled and tumbled into the forest. "You!" A familiar voice screeched as the two of you barreled down the hill until you landed in the dirt. You tried to stand up when your face was forced into the ground. "This is all your fault!" Splash shrieked.

You wriggled aimlessly from under her. "I don't know what you want from me!" You cry out. You pulled an arm free and tried to push at her. She pinned your wrist with her foot. She was taller than you and this put her at advantage.

"You stole my boyfriend from me!" Of course, she was jealous. She suddenly grabbed your bangs. "I wonder what you've been hiding." She sneers. She pulls your hair painfully. She gives you a look of disgust at your keystone eye, then laughs at you. "No wonder you're hiding! A freak like you would never have a chance!" She cackles. She then reaches her fingers into your eye socket, causing you to wail in pain. You began kicking, hitting, screaming, just trying to get her to stop. With a loud squelch and pop your keystone was between her finger and her thumb.

From the gym, Sableye's head pops up and he gives out a loud whine. He attempts to gain Hitmonchan and Togetic's attention before leading them towards you. He felt the keystone leave your body, and knew something was not right.

Splash holds your keystone up to the sun and stares at it. "Oh I can already see his horrified face when he knows your nasty little secret!" She giggles loudly.

"Fuck off." You hiss, then you spit in her face.

She wipes it off in disgust. "You bitch!" She slaps your cheek, "I'll make you regret everything." She scowls.

She raises her fist to give you a pummeling before a gloved hand lashes out and catches her wrist. "And I'll make you regret saying that." Another familiar voice speaks up. With a quick move, The Man bends her arm back and plucks your keystone from her fingers. He then leans into her, "I suggest that when I let you go, you leave for good. I don't want to hear a word of anything that happened here or you're going to wish you hadn't. I won't give you mercy. Is that understood?" He growls at her. Splash is too frightened and shaken up to respond. She's blubbering loudly and can barely get a word out. With the keystone in his fist, he grabs the collar of her low-cut shirt and yells in her face, "Is that understood?!" She nods quickly, pleading for him to let her go. Satisfied with her answer, he gives her a hard kick to the stomach as he lets her go, causing her to go flying into the brush. The both of you watch her run off back into town and probably far away. The Man then turns to you, and lends you a hand.

Confused but still gracious, you grab it and let him haul you into a standing position. "Hey, thanks."

He laughs darkly at you. "Do not thank me, (Name). Not until you know my true capabilities." He hands you your keystone. "I believe this is yours."

"Uh..." You were about to thank him again, but just stayed quiet as you eased the keystone back into your eye socket. "So...why did you help me if you wanted me dead earlier?"

He gives you a snort. "I am not helping you. I am doing this for myself. You will understand someday. I now fully expect you to meet me for a battle every time your friends attempt a gym."

"And if I don't?" You send him a glare.

He faces you. Even under that mask you could feel a hard stare. "I think you will, (Name). Until then." He wraps his cape around himself and once he opens it, a puff of smoke arises and he's gone.

You stare at his previous spot in confusion. Why did he want you all of a sudden? What did you have to offer to him that no one else had? Your head turns at the sight of movement in the corner of your eyes. Sableye chittered at Hitmonchan and Togetic before your three Pokémon helped you out of the ditch. "Thanks guys." You gave them a weak smile.

A voice rung in your head, I suggest you keep this meeting of ours a secret...

\-------------------------------

It's been FOREVER but I was stuck and unsure what to dooooo. Especially after that last chapter.

Well now Splash is gone, and The Man isn't trying to murder your guts anymore, but now you and Gold aren't speaking (for now), and you have to meet up with The Man for battles. Fun!

Anyway sorry for the late, and have a good day!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I drank like 2 month old root beer from my boyfriend's bedroom. Also yeah it was mine I left it there but there was nothing else to drink in the house. I feel fine...for now...

Shaken up from your previous encounter, you only purchase a small drink at the PokéMart. You could barely drink it, your body trembling. Sableye sensed your major confusion, which was causing your sorrow and pain. He knew what you were thinking, too. Why did this have to happen?

When you arrived at the gym, Sapphire had already beaten it and everyone was waiting outside for you. Said female saw the dirty, bruised condition you were in and was the first to approach you, followed by the three boys once you fell to your knees, sobbing into your hands.

"(Name), what's wrong? Did something bad happen?" She tries to console you, a hand on your shoulder as she squats down next to you along with everyone else.

"I-I," you tried to stop crying enough to sputter out at least some sort of explanation. "Splash she..." You hiccuped, rubbing tears from your eyes.

"Did she hurt you?" Wally asked softly. You could only nod.

"I'm so stupid..." You muttered when your crying slowed down. "This is all my fault. If I had just listened to my parents, none of this would be happening. I wouldn't have been poisoned, attacked, stalked, and almost killed on several occasions." In a fit of self-hatred, you began hitting your head, "this is all my fault, I'm stupid, stupid, stup--"

"Hey, hey, (Name)," Ruby pulled your hands from your head. "Don't beat yourself up over it. You're not stupid, and it was never your fault." He smiled at you. "Sure, bad things have happened, but look on the bright side, you've got Wally, Gold, Sapphire and I as your new friends, you've met and even caught new Pokémon, and bonded excellently with them. I like to think that Arceus itself watches over you."

You thought over his words, but ultimately couldn't take what was happening to you anymore. "I just want to go home." You said quietly, staring at the ground. You retrieved your Pokémon into their Pokéballs and sat there.

Everyone exchanged worried looks, but said nothing. Sapphire and Wally helped you up and silently, you all made your way to the fifth city.

By the time you arrived, you had calmed down significantly, and at least bore a relaxed demeanor.

Ruby was the first to talk after the several hours of mildly uncomfortable silence between cities, "(Name)?"

"Hm?" You turned to face him, the others just going on without you two.

"Well, we're in the fifth city...when do you want to have our date? We could have it now as a dinner date, or maybe tomorrow morning for breakfast, or...?" Ruby tried to throw you some ideas, now realizing he had nothing planned except for how he wanted to dress and that he wanted to eat somewhere with you, because that's what you do on dates, right?

"I guess now works fine, I know you want to go do the gym here tomorrow..." You say, remembering your deal with The Man.

"Really? Okay, then let's get to the hotel and change, quick!" The two of you raced to catch up with the others, before you all entered the hotel and bunked the boys in one room and you and Sapphire in another. Sapphire had wanted you to get dressed a couple rooms away from Ruby so you could surprise him with your cute outfit.

She got to work immediately, shoving you in the bathroom with your clothes, and once you were finished showering and dressing, she insisted on caking your face in makeup, and doing your hair. You reluctantly agreed, but only if she stayed away from your bangs.

"Well...it's a bit awkward, but I'm sure I can work around it." She remarked, nodding her head. It was quiet a while. "So...why do you wear your bangs like that?"

"Like what?"

"Covering your eye. It's a little creepy if you look at it the right angle. If we just pull it back, then everyone can see both of your pretty eyes." She smiled.

You sighed. "I dunno. I guess it gives me a fierce or mysterious look. A 'don't mess with me' vibe."

"Well why can't anyone, even Gold or Ruby see your eye? Is it because there's something wrong with it? Oh, do you have heterochromia?" Sapphire started barreling you with questions.

"Uh, yeah." You lied. "I-it's also sensitive to light which is why, y'know, I keep it...hidden..." Hey, whatever got Sapphire to stop asking you questions about your eye. If you were lucky, she'd leave you alone about it forever, and if she tells others about it, that's just a bonus because then you won't have to explain yourself over and over.

Sapphire was being slow and careful with your makeup, giving you a full face and even lightly styling the back of your hair. When she was finished, she stepped back and admired her work. "Well, I think you look lovely. Ruby will absolutely adore you."

You felt a twinge of pain at her words. Did you really love Ruby as much as you used to? You knew more about him now and...he really was starting to feel more like a friend than a boyfriend. You felt bad for not realizing your feelings sooner and telling him. Now you felt like you were leading him on and that you were going to leave him super heart-broken and vengeful against you. Maybe you should stay with him, to spare his feelings. It was safe to say you were completely torn.

Sapphire pulled you from your thoughts, "I'm gonna check on Ruby and see how he's doing, alright?" You nodded, pacing the room. "Oh, hi Gold! Come in, I was just headed to your room to see Ruby. I'll be back soon!"

You perked at the mention of the playboy. Why was he here? Didn't you make it clear you didn't want to see him again? But a small part of you felt warm knowing that he was visiting you. Sapphire left you alone with the guy. "So...why are you here?"

"Just like Sapphire with Ruby, I came to see you." He hesitated, scratching the back of his head. "You look stunning."

You sighed. "Thanks."

"You really do love him, don't you?" You nodded slowly, unsure but wanting to make sure Gold wouldn't pull anything. You didn't quite trust him. "Well, here's a little something from me," he began to use his sleeve to wipe off your fake face. "Please, don't hide." He cupped your cheeks, and you almost expected him to kiss you, but was caught off guard when he hugged you. "I'm sorry." He lay his chin on the top of your head. "Once we get home, I'll make it up to you. I shouldn't have tried to follow you when you left that night."

You sighed and accepted the hug. "I don't care anymore. All that matters now is that I try to make the most of my journey to find my real parents." You looked up at him with a big smile. "I actually almost forgot why I was here in the first place. We've known each other for quite a long time, haven't we now?"

Gold chuckled, "yeah."

\---------------------------------------

So uhhhhh it's been a hot while since I've even touched this story. From March to June, that's a whole three months jeez. School's been kicking my butt the past month or so; I'd be surprised if I passed my social studies class, I hate social studies because I'm so bad at it, but I'm pretty sure I passed chemistry and my grammar class, and I know I passed geometry and poetry.

I'm excited for my senior year, because hopefully I'll get to make my first mini-movie, and I'll be taking a lot of art classes, and I might even get to make a comic book/graphic novel? Or at least start one.

Other than that I just got back from a week of camping ("camping", I stayed in a beach house) with my boyfriend and his/our friend and his mom. It was pretty fun; I had my first cannoli. we didn't really go to the beach because I'm afraid of the ocean, and no one else really cared about swimming. I had lots of fun.

What have you guys been doing for fun lately? If nothing's been happening, I hope you've at least been taking care of yourselves. It's important to stay healthy!

Anyway I'm sorry for the really long wait, and I hope you enjoy this update! Another one is due soon, perhaps today or tomorrow; stay tuned!


	23. Chapter 23

"You look stunning." Ruby complemented you.

You had left hand in hand with him not too long ago for your dinner date, and every minute since he'd been praising the way you looked in one way or another. "Y-you told me that at least 20 times, are you feeling alright?" You asked.

"Yeah, it's just that you're really pretty."

"Thanks, but you don't have to constantly remind me." You forced a playful laugh, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He joked around with you the rest of the way to the restaurant. While there, he was a complete gentleman; he held the door open, sat you in your chair, made sure you were comfortable, and even offered to pay for the meal. You tried to decline, saying you had your own money, but he insisted, causing you to decide to order something really cheap. He ordered a simple pasta dish and a ginger ale while you went with a cheap salad and a small glass of soda.

Oddly enough, you two were quiet, and it got awkward. You were thinking deeply, meanwhile, and decided you needed to tell him this relationship wasn't going to work out as well as you'd hoped. You thought Ruby could replace Gold, because initially you thought they were pretty similar. Now you saw this was not the case, and you if you continued the relationship, one or both of you would end up unhappy with the other.

"...Ruby?" You started, picking through your food in disinterest. You stopped when he gave you his attention, and you looked away for a second. "This date is really nice, and I appreciate--"

"I'm going to have to ask you to hold that thought, I have something I'd like to say first." You clenched your fists in annoyance at his interruption, but nodded for him to continue. He took a sip of his drink, "I don't want to come off as harsh or mean but...I'm not sure this will work out." Your eyes widened in surprise and you relaxed your hands.

"Uhm...believe it or not, I was kinda...gonna say the same thing, and I was afraid I was going to hurt your feelings..." You let out a relaxed laugh.

Ruby laughed with you, "I did too! But I guess in the end, something needed to be said. Why did you want to break it off?"

"Well, we have different interests for starters. You're into beauty competitions, and don't get me wrong, you're wonderful at what you do, and I enjoy watching you, it's just...that's not really my thing. You?"

"I was thinking the same thing." He was quiet a moment, thinking. "And I know Gold has a bad reputation when it comes to his love life, but I genuinely think he's trying to change himself for you. I think he loves you more than I ever could. Also...I think I might like someone else." He added quietly, tapping his fingers together shyly.

"Oh? Who?"

"Sapphire..."

You smiled; how cute! "Well, I think it might be able to work out between you two." You encouraged him.

"Yeah. Well, now that the date's been ruined--"

"Ruined? Says who? We still had fun, and we can still go around town to find something to do; the night's not over yet!" You stood up, hands in the air. You didn't care if people stared at your outburst, you felt a new sense of happiness as a big weight had been lifted off your shoulders. You were having fun. You let Ruby pay for the meal like he wanted, then you grabbed his wrist and headed outside. You walked around and talked, joked, and laughed together, eventually stopping at the PokéMart to buy a few things. Ruby ended up purchasing a few new accessories for his Pokémon while you bought a few snacks and a matching blue scarf for Togetic, since Hitmonchan had one, and they sure seemed smitten with each other. Once you finished and left, you talked some more and then arrived at the hotel.

It was rather late, so you both hugged, wished each other good night, then went your separate ways. You opened the door to your room, only to be barreled over by your Pokémon, overjoyed for your safe return, and nuzzling your face affectionately. You had left them in Sapphire's care, and while they did have fun with her, they missed you dearly. You hugged them all back, and looking over Sableye, you could see Sapphire was asleep in her bed. Digging around in your shopping bag, you pulled out the blue scarf and tied it around Togetic's neck, watching as she flitted happily around Hitmonchan, showing off her new accessory.

After the big reunion, you ushered everyone to get ready for bed. You decided they all needed a bath, and while doing so, you told them how your date went. You also ended up telling them about the weird deal you made with The Man, and how tomorrow they'd have to be ready for a battle. Your Pokémon, understanding of you as ever, nodded, letting out encouraging chirps and yelps. You sighed, "thanks guys, I don't know what I'd ever do without you all. I know we'll do great; that you'll do great." You rinsed them off, dried them, brushed their teeth, and tucked them all into bed; Togetic and Hitmonchan on the couch as usual, and Sableye curled up on a pillow on your bed. You then took the time to get yourself ready, dressing into comfortable clothes, brushing your teeth, and sliding into bed.

You woke up the next morning to see Sapphire hovering over your bed. "So, how was it?" She asked cheerfully once she saw you were awake. She was already dressed, and by the looks of it, she'd already eaten breakfast, too. There were two breakfast in bed trays on the bedside table, one of which was empty. She handed you your breakfast while you talked to her.

You stretched and sighed, remembering how you broke up with each other, but managed to have fun with the night anyway. You smiled, "I like to think it went well in its own way."

\------------------------------------

Another chapter, as promised!

There's a surprise coming next chapter, and I hope you're ready for it!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	24. Chapter 24

Here you were, at the sixth gym. The Man... He would be waiting for you at the moment. You smiled as you saw Ruby laughing with Sapphire, and he sent a thumbs up to you. Things seemed to be going well for him.

As for Gold...you looked over at the boy. He was talking sadly to Wally, and kept stealing glances at you. Word had already spread that you and Ruby had stopped dating...what was wrong now?

"I think we should challenge the gym. It's not evening yet, so we have about two hours before the gym shuts down for the night. That should get the four of us through." Sapphire suddenly suggests.

You shrugged. Not participating, you didn't care what happened. Everyone else agreed with Sapphire, not quite ready to stop.

"Alright then, it's right over there. I want first!" She ran ahead of the group.

"No fair!" Wally took off after her, then Ruby. Gold gave you a sad look, then hesitantly ran off with them.

"Hey, (Name), aren't you coming?" Wally yelled to you.

You shook your head, "I guess I'll just explore. Thank you, though!" You looked around sadly. Why was Gold waiting to ask you out? Was he scared? You had to make it up to him, but not now. Maybe when you got back to Johto. You had bigger problems right now, like the sudden headache that began. It felt like something was ringing loudly in your ears, while your brain was growing too large for your skull to contain. Sableye, perched on your shoulder, stared at you in alarm. Hitmonchan used protect, to make a magical barrier for a moment. That was when the ringing stopped.

Then a voice came into your head, "you know where to find me." Instinctively, you looked behind you, and there he was, The Man. You were really getting sick of the mystery behind him.

"Hey uh, can I at least get a name from you? I don't even know what you look like." You yelled to him. He seemed to ignore you and just walked away. "Hey, anything works! Nickname?" You called, chasing after him.

For walking, he was pretty fast. Soon you arrived at a clearing in the forest. He was already on one side, and you got the hint, walking to the other side with Hitmonchan, Sableye, and Togetic. "Is this where-"

"Mightyena, Bite." He didn't even give you a chance to choose a Pokémon to send out.

Luckily, Togetic had your back. She jumped out in front of you, and was quick to use Fairy Wind in retaliation. Both attacks hit, but Mightyena was able to tough it out. The man growled, knowing he didn't have moves to counter the fairy type, so he made a switch in. "Ariados, Poison Jab."

The new Pokémon lunged for Togetic and pinned her, biting into her arm. Togetic was able to use Ancient Power before poison damage caused her to faint. Ariados stood strong. Sableye decided to take the initiative, thinking ahead of you and readying himself for battle. Immediately, he dodged Ariados's Pin Missile, and used Foul Play, a move you taught him a few days ago, knowing The Man had dark type Pokémon. Ariados fainted, and The Man sent out his Mightyena again.

"Sableye, Hitmonchan's got this!" Sableye nodded and jumped back just as Hitmonchan left his PokéBall. Mightyena's bite did nothing to him as he used one of his fighting type moves, knocking out the large canine in one hit. You grinned, you were winning! You knew The Man had only an Eevee left, and you already had Hitmonchan out, so this was in the bag.

Until it wasn't. A Sylveon entered the battle, instantly taking out your Hitmonchan; his Eevee had evolved. You could hear the smirk behind his voice, "Did you really expect me to not exploit your biggest weakness?" He watched as your Hitmonchan fell to the ground, fainting. This Sylveon had pixelate. "Come on then, send out your little Sableye." He purred.

You took a deep breath, letting Sableye come forward. Your hand flew to the keystone in your eye, and the Sablenite in his back began glowing. "We can do this buddy." You didn't have to say anything else, he knew what to do. He leapt up into the air, spewing Toxic from his mouth directly at the Sylveon in front of him. Once poisoned, Sableye landed and used Protect.

Sylveon merely used rest, sleeping off the poison. "Come on now, you can't tell me you didn't see this coming." The Man mocked.

You muttered under your breath, trying to think, but Sableye was a step ahead of you. He used Foul Play, waiting for Sylveon to wake up. Once it did, he threw his large gem into the air, jumping up and kicking it right into the fairy Pokémon. You felt a glimmer of hope for winning the battle shine through, until the Sylveon caught the gem.

Together, you and Sableye felt the same things. Widened eyes, pounding hearts. "No.." you muttered. Sylveon, with the heart of its trainer, shattered the gem, causing extreme physical pain to Sableye and you, and you both collapsed to the ground, Sableye reverting back from his mega form.

"Yes. I think you've done enough damage. We'll see each other again, I know we will. It's a shame I can't say the same for your little buddy. Let's finish this, Sylveon."

"Don't hurt him!" Through the pain in both your eye and your chest, you lunged out and used your body to protect your poor Pokémon. It was almost too quick for you to process, but before Sylveon could touch either of you, there was a loud roar, and a large, red blur tackled your attacker to the ground, fainting the Sylveon on the spot.

"No!" The Man was quick to dismiss his injured Pokémon, "fine! I'll do it myself!" This was met by a low warning growl from your protector, and he quickly changed his mind. "One day, there won't be anyone around to save you!" He yelled before you could hear fading footsteps.

That was when you deemed it safe enough to stand up, helping your weak and injured Sableye into your hold. You were sure to be gentle with him, and looked up to your protector. From the back, you could tell it was a large feline, an Incineroar. "Why...why would you save me?"

She turned around to face you, showing off her blind eyes. "Torracat? You've evolved!" She began purring loudly, reaching out for you and giving you a hug when she found you. When you finally pulled away, she continued to stick around you. You took the hint, "you...want to join my team?" She nodded and it didn't take long for you to shift Sableye to one arm, and take out a free PokéBall for her. You tapped it against her arm and she went in, getting caught. You picked back up and released her, letting her walk with you. "Come on, we have to get the others healed up, we've had a rough battle."

The two of you set out towards the Pokémon Center, Sableye in your arms.

\--------------------------------

Hello all! I'm so sorry for not updating 😔 I'm sick (not with the virus and stuff, just like sick because of very high stress/anxiety of being inside with my family) plus I've been doing a shit-ton of work on my SCP book, I have about 6 chapters written, still have at least 20 left to write (and edit still) and on top of that I have the lazy AND the stupid.

Anyway if y'all thought this book was discontinued I totally understand and I'm sorry. Basically I have no real excuse for not doing anything, and I understand if y'all get upset, but it's fine. I'll try to get out another chapter today or tomorrow since I'm actually on a roll right now and have no writer's block.

Again, I'm sorry :(

Peace~Mama Meh


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My boyfriend's dog is so cute, her name is Hina and she's a little Yorkie dog. She likes to stomp on me with her tiny paws, bite my socks, and steal food off my plate.

You sat in the waiting room, Hitmonchan, Togetic, and Sableye getting healed, while Incineroar waited with you.

At the sound of the door opening and loud chatter, you instinctively looked up to see your troupe of Pokémon trainers, and waved them over.

"(Name), what happened?!" Sapphire was the first to notice your awful state; messed up hair, dirty clothes, bruises on your chest and keystone eye, not that they could see that one. The one on your chest was obvious. Meanwhile the boys seemed to notice the large Incineroar next to you, and flocked to her. "Hey, your friend is injured, here!" She yelled at them.

"It's alright." You didn't want all the extra attention. You didn't need them to know where the bruises were from. "It's just an accident and-woah, don't pull on my shirt!" You snapped at Sapphire when she grabbed your collar and pulled downwards.

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to see how big it was. It hardly looks like an accident if it's super huge. Besides, you're wearing a bra, it'll be fine." She argued.

You gestured to the boys next to her, "they exist!"

That's when she got the hint. "Ah, my bad. Come on, let's go to the bathroom then." She grabbed your wrist and dragged you towards the ladies' room.

You looked back to catch Gold's stare, and just by the look of it, he knew exactly who did this to you. He was ready to cry, and his hands shook as he clenched them. You looked away.

You let Sapphire pull your shirt over your head, and she gasped at the sight. Even you were surprised, you didn't think the bruise was that big. It was ovular in shape, stretching from your collarbone to your belly button, and spanned the width of your shoulders. "Oh no...what happened...?"

You yanked the shirt back from her and put it on. "I'll tell you later when you see Sableye. Then it'll make sense."

The two of you exit the room. "How big?" Wally asks, frightened of your state. Sapphire draws a finger around her torso to show them exactly how much of your skin had turned color. Ruby put a hand over his mouth in shock, Wally's eyes widened, and Gold stood there, trembling.

"It's not that big of a deal, you guys. I've literally had worse, you've seen it. This is a bruise, it'll heal." You honestly didn't see the fuss.

"Well someone must've-" Ruby was interrupted.

"No one hurt me directly! I'll explain everything when Sableye comes out, then you'll understand." This was frustrating.

"We're just worried, that's all." You heard from Sapphire.

Gold hadn't spoken to you at all.

It wasn't long until your Pokémon were healed, and everyone else's were taken in for a refresher. You kept Togetic and Hitmonchan in their PokéBalls, not ready to let them see what their brother looked like. Sableye was healed, but still exhausted, and he had a large chest cavity where his gem was. You held him out in your arms for others to see. "I was battling someone, when they broke his gem, and now he has to grow in a new one. Because his chest is hurt, mine is too."

"How did it break?" Wally asked.

This was when you realized that they, minus Gold, had no clue that Sableye could mega evolve, as they'd never seen him do it, and therefore would have no way of knowing you had a keystone to do so. You could get away without revealing your secret eye. "Well...I mean it's a gem, and all gems break if you hit them hard enough."

"Why would that effect you though?" Ruby asked.

"I've had him for practically my whole life; we have a really strong bond." It wasn't technically a lie.

"Oh. Well we're sorry that happened. Maybe we should head in for the night, grab something to eat on the way back to the hotel." Sapphire suggested, grabbing her healed Pokémon.

Slowly, others began to agree and collect their Pokémon too. You followed the group, only to be grabbed by Gold, who spun you around to face him. Incineroar let out a warning growl at him after hearing your shocked squeak, and he let go. "Sorry, sorry."

"What's wrong?" You ask him. "You've been quiet all day."

"I know, I'm sorry, I was just doing a lot of thinking and such. I want you to keep me in the loop. What's happening between you and the mysterious guy that follows us around."

You looked away. "It's me. He wants me. I don't know why."

He grabbed you by the shoulders, careful not to upset Incineroar, or make you drop Sableye. "I'm trying my best to protect you again after failing so many times. I know Sableye mega evolves, and I remember that trick he pulled on me when we first met. Did he do that again?"

"Well...yeah. He does it a lot as his special fifth move. It's technically illegal but I don't think this man cares for rules. Anyway his Pokémon caught it and...destroyed it. I probably would've died if Incineroar hadn't showed up. She was trying to get stronger before she joined the team. She's an absolute powerhouse now." You laugh lightly. "Anyways, The Man wants something to do with me. He says we're similar, ever since I saw him I've been having weird dreams of a little kid, I think Mewtwo is trying to hunt this kid down or something, Mewtwo wants to kill me, and I'm like 10% sure that the kid and the man are the same person."

"That...kinda sounds crazy. What would Mewtwo want with you? You're just a random teen. And the child too, is he related to you?"

You shook your head, "I have no siblings."

"Huh. Does he look like anyone you know? Cameron perhaps? Or another relative?" Gold asked.

You shrugged, "I mean he looks a little like-" you cut yourself off. "He looks just like my dad." You slowly began putting the pieces together, "if the man and the kid are the same person, and the kid is my dad, then the man is my dad, and he followed us here! It all makes sense! My dad already doesn't like me because I was switched at birth with his real son, so why wouldn't he follow me around to kill me or something?"

Gold squeezed your arms, "well shit, (Name), if your father's trying to kill you, we've got to let the police know!" He yelled. He waited for you to put Sableye in his PokéBall and then grabbed your hand and the two of you took off running towards the police, Incineroar in tow.

Once you arrived, Gold did the talking for you, explaining to them that your father was hunting you down. They replied telling him that Nurse Joy warned them about him, and that with this new information, they could double down on the search.

On your way out, two policemen escorted you to the hotel, where they explained to the staff not to let anyone know which room you and Gold were staying at, then left.

"I can let Typloshion out if it'd make you feel safer."

Overwhelmed by all that was happening, you simply nodded to him. "I would like that...thank you." Incineroar took the couch while Typhlosiin took the bed closest to the door. You were surrounded by powerful fire types as you cuddled with Gold, who wrapped his arms around you in hopes to comfort you.

You'd have to explain everything to the others when you meet up in the morning.

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Hey! Second chapter here! Sorry to keep you all waiting for MONTHS for these updates. I'm all drained for now, but I'll see you all soon!

Peace~Mama Meh


	26. Chapter 26

Woah...

You were surrounded by people in ballgowns and suits, and you looked down to see you were fitted in one of your own dresses; gorgeous shades of greyed purple and lavender. In front of you stood Gold in a nicely tailored tux, with a hat to match, his hands outstretched to take you for a dance.

A dream, that's what it was. You were delighted that for once, you could let your guard down. You were safe here. Famous last words.

You took his hand, your other reaching for his shoulder as he grabbed your waist gently. His voice was higher pitched than usual, as if he just inhaled a tank of helium, and you giggled; "you look stunning!"

"And you are looking dapper." You smiled, leaning against him. He moved your hair out of your face, where you had your eye back, keystone in a necklace once again. He then kissed your forehead. The two of you danced to music that sounded muffled, as if being played behind a wall, but it was nice anyway.

"What would you do if he wasn't here?" A voice echoed around you. The music faded and the people disappeared. "Wasn't here to protect you. Don't you remember who you were? You were strong, brave, and clever. I think..." there was a pause, followed by laughter. "No, you wouldn't get it."

"Wouldn't get what?" You yelled, holding dream Gold in your arms for fear of him disappearing too. "Tell me, you bastard!"

"Oh, he's made you soft, and weak. Let me show you." There was a slash through Gold's chest and he slowly began to dissipate into mist-like particles that floated around until they shrunk into nothing. "You don't need people. People were a mistake. Arceus failed Pokémon by creating these disgusting creatures."

Wait a minute. This wasn't The Man speaking.

"See? There you go. Smart girl. The moment he's gone, you notice things more." This praise was disgusting. You felt like a pet to this entity. Was this Mewtwo? Most logical. You looked down at your ballgown, realizing just now that those pretty colors were the same as the Pokémon speaking to you. "You're special. You know that, right? After all, not everyone gets a special eye replacement." There's a dark laugh echoing around you as you can feel the excruciating pain searing through your skull. The same kind that you felt on that day. Blood dribbled down your face and stained the dress as the keystone from the necklace went missing once again. "After all, not everyone feels such as special a connection to their beloved Pokémon." More pain rocketed throughout your torso as a bruise swelled up on the skin, causing you to cry out. "After all, not everyone attracts Pokémon with mere kindness and purity." Mewtwo continues to taunt you, as your body becomes littered with scars and cuts, reminiscent of the ones you gained protecting your Pokémon.

"Please..." you wheezed, struggling to stand up after you collapsed to the tiled floor of the dimly lit ballroom. "I can't...no more..."

"Alright then, let's fix that shall we?" Mewtwo appears in front of you, waving a hand and everything disappears, minus the eye. As you stand, the psychic Pokémon continues speaking. "You don't fit in with the humans. You are...what do they call it? A...freak?" A smile spreads, evil and malicious as the clone taunts you with words you had heard several times before from bad-natured individuals at home.

You're so sick of this. You glare, "what the fuck do you even want from me?"

Mewtwo stops smiling, tilting its head at you almost adorably, but given the situation, it was nearly horrifying. "Isn't it obvious? My...parent, as some call it, has taken a liking to you. It's only fair I get along with your counterpart." Parent...Mew? "Speaking of parents, aren't you ashamed of all the trouble you're putting your dear ol' father through? Your foster one, anyway." It adds with a sinister grin.

"What? No! He's out here trying to kill me, and here you are, working with him, and you're infiltrating my dreams! Get out of my head!" Your hands flew to your head as you gripped your hair tightly.

"Oh, you've got it all wrong. You see, he's still sitting at home, wondering if you're even still alive, holding a picture of you and crying with his wife." Mewtwo closes its eyes, showing you an image of his description.

"You're lying! Lying!" You yelled, reaching out to attack the figure in front of you.

Mewtwo simply hovered out of reach. "Am I? Take another look at my...host, as I call him."

A little boy appears in front of you, a replica of the one you'd seen before in your nightmares. "(Name), don't listen to Mewtwo. He's hurting me and he'll hurt-"

"Silence." Mewtwo grimaced as it made the apparition fade, then turned back to you. "You saw it, right?"

You swallowed as you nodded. The little boy's eyes were brown, not the blue that your foster father had, but definitely the kind your foster mother had. You also very clearly understood what this kid was warning you of, and this only made you more wary of the Pokémon in front of you.

"Don't listen to him. He's a pest. He's that little bit of humanity that just won't die out. Don't worry, I'll catch it soon, and then I'll come for you."

That's when your eyes opened to see Gold holding his leg. "Jeez, I didn't know you could kick so hard in your sleep. I thought you shattered my shin there for a minute." He added, laughing.

That's when you grabbed him up in your arms, his head laying against your soft chest as you held him by his head and upper back. You opted to ignore the numbing pain from your bruise, as you desperately needed the comfort of being held. "I've made a terrible mistake. It was never my father. It was his son."

"What? I don't understand. You just said yesterday that it was your dad, and now you're saying it isn't?" Gold shifted to look up at you. "What happened?" His arm wrapped around you, pulling you into him.

"Mewtwo was in my dream last night. It told me that it took over my father's son, and that it's going to come for me once it's done with him. I'm just...so confused. Why is all this happening? Why..." you felt something wet on your cheek, but it was too thick to be a tear. "Oh shoot." You flew up out of bed and raced for the bathroom. You locked the door then pulled your hair back, revealing blood coming out of your eye like a horror movie. It was still pretty badly bruised, and it hurt when you pulled out your keystone, causing you to yell out in pain.

"Are you okay? (Name)?" Gold knocked on the door.

"I'm fine!" You snapped. "Just...ouch-doing something." You checked out your empty socket in the mirror, then looked around in panic. You had to clean your eye somehow, but there was nothing but toilet paper and tissues, as you didn't want to bloody up any of the towels. "Fuck...fuck!" You yelled, slamming your hands on the counter.

"I'm scared, what's going on? Are you hurt?" Gold whimpered from the other side of the door.

"It's nothing! I'll be done when I am!" You grabbed a few tissues, opting to clean out the blood first before anything else. One...two... it took a few but the blood was cleared and you could see the problem. The skin had broken and blood from the bruise had started leaking out. You decided to inspect your keystone for any cause. It was coated in blood, but beneath that you found a small hair tangled around it. It had come off, wrapped around your stone, and cut you when your eyes moved. Hair can be really sharp if it wanted to. You groaned before washing your keystone, using soap and setting it down to dry. Inspecting hair, it was the same color as your father's son, Jasper. You shuddered and threw it away. You continued cleaning your eye, then sighed. You'd need your eye to heal before you put the stone back in, so you would have to carry it in something. Between your bruise and the cut, it'd be at least two days before you could do anything.

You swallowed thickly then grabbed the stone and exit the room, waiting for Gold to talk to you. "You're bleeding! By Arceus, it's everywhere!" He frowned, grabbing your cheeks and forcing you to look at him. "What happened?"

"Girl stuff." You replied quickly. You hadn't thought much before on what you'd tell him, but listening to him freak out over blood gave you the perfect idea.

He immediately flushed red, and slowly pulled away from you. "Oh...oh yeah...I mean..." he averted his gaze and scratched the back of his head, shy and at a loss for words. "I'll be back real quick." He exit the hotel room, leaving you alone in the room with Incineroar and Typhlosion, both of which just woke up.

You smiled sweetly at them and took your PokéBalls, letting out Hitmonchan and Togetic, then Sableye out onto the bed. He was still weak, but he was at least feeling better. Hitmonchan and Togetic fretted over their brother, before calming down and giving him pats on the head.

You yourself dug through your bag, looking for some gems for Sableye and a place to store your stone. That's when Incineroar tapped on your shoulder, then held out her hand. "You want to help?" She nodded. She already knew about your keystone, and probably heard it clatter on the bathroom counter when you took it out, and could smell the blood, knowing something was up. You handed her the stone, watching her feel it's round smoothness for a second, before placing it inside the centerpiece of her flaming belt. It would be safe in there, you both knew that. "Thank you." She couldn't see you smile, but she could hear it.

You turned to the rest of the group, handing Sableye some gems and then relocating him to Typhlosion's side. "You need to stay here to recover. The rest of us are going to get breakfast, and I promise, promise you we'll be back. Okay?" He looked sad, but nodded and let you kiss the top of his head. You then left the room with your three Pokémon in tow, looking for something to eat.

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Ahhh thank you all for reading this book! We're almost done with Hoenn, and soon we'll move onto Johto, then Kanto!

Also I'm going to need some votes from you all. Which of these Pokémon would you want to join your journey;  
\- Deerling  
\- Aron  
\- Shinx  
Please pick one! Thank you so much!

🥺 please stay safe, wash your hands, and stay hydrated!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah Aron won by the way

Sableye was frantic by the time you returned. "Hey, hey," you left your other Pokémon at the door to comfort your friend. You scooped him up into your arms and cradled him with one arm, stroking his head with your free hand. "Shh, I'm here. I would never abandon you." You kissed him on the forehead and he finally seemed to calm.

Gold, watching from the door with your Pokémon, sighed. Why did you have to be perfect? You were beautiful, smart, independent, and kind. What more could a guy want? Doubt began flowering in his mind; did you really love him? How could someone as amazing as you possibly fall for a crummy playboy like him? He wasn't worth your love.

That's when it struck him. That's how you must've felt when he dated other people. He was a champion, so his relationships were recorded in every magazine printed of him. You were much shorter than them, poorer than them, and you dressed more comfortably than them. You probably thought you didn't have a chance.

"Are you alright?" Your soft voice caused him to look up at you. His eyes were glossy with oncoming tears, and that concerned you. "I have to comfort two boys, huh?" You tried to lighten the mood, and it made Gold smile.

"Y/N?" He sounded quieter, softer than usual. He leaned down into you so you could pat his back with your free hand, and was careful not to crowd Sableye. "What do you think we are?"

Your breathing stopped for a second, and he could feel it. Maybe you hated him, or something. He was kind of a bad person. "I know we're at least friends. Sure we love each other, but I'm kinda worried on what will happen. I...I know how you are; I know that you like other girls, and I don't want you to break my heart too."

He heard your voice crack and he whipped his head up off your shoulder to look at you. You were starting to cry. Sableye made a weak, angry hiss at him for making his trainer upset. "(N-Name)! Please, don't cry!" He began wiping the tears from your face. "I liked other girls. I only like one girl now. I promise that I don't want to break your heart, it's just that I'm scared! You're perfect in every way, I could never be good enough for you! What if...if you found someone else, someone better than me and..." he trailed off. Break my heart. That was exactly the same thing you were worried about him doing. He understood now. He grabbed your hand in both of his, and stared right into your eye. He noticed the one behind your bangs wasn't shining anymore, but that wasn't important. "I promise that no matter what, I will stay by your side, and your side only. You're everything I could ever want and more. No one will ever hurt you, because I will be there. I will try to make you happy everyday, and I will be there for when you're sad. I love you so, so much (Name). Please, be mine?"

"Sheesh." You laughed lightly, setting Sableye down on the bed gently and drying your eyes. Gold's heart sank into his stomach; didn't you love him anymore? What did he do wrong this time? "You didn't need to make a proposal."

Oh, you were joking with him. He just couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed both sides of your face and pulled you in for a kiss. He smiled when he heard you squeak in surprise, and then slowly wrap your arms around him. It was perfect. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was still nice. His hands left your cheeks to wrap around your body in a nice hug afterwards. "I love you."

"I love you too, it's just that I'm still scared to trust you with my heart, since last time I did that, you got a girlfriend. I don't want to go through that again. We can't be together yet until I can trust you again." You looked away, and Gold sighed.

He wanted you to be his girlfriend now, but this was better than nothing, he supposed. He wouldn't mind waiting. "I'll wait for as long as you want, and I'll prove that you can trust me again."

You giggled, "your determined face looks so cute."

He was quick to reply, "you're so cute."

"That has to be the mushiest thing I've ever seen." Came Sapphire's voice.

You both jumped in surprise and looked at the doorway, were the other three trainers stood alongside your other Pokémon. Gosh, how embarrassing. "W-well we weren't really expecting an audience." You mumbled, scuffing your foot against the hotel room carpeting. Poor Wally was looking really uncomfortable, like he was going to faint any second. "I'm going to get dressed." You decided, grabbing some leggings and a nice, long t-shirt.

"Yeah, we still have to fight the gym here! You can use the bathroom in our room if you want to, Gold." Ruby offered.

"Alright. Thank you." You heard some shuffling and everyone was gone, save for your Pokémon who relaxed in your room and chatted amongst themselves.

You sighed, leaning against the door half-dressed. You knew he promised not to, but could Gold really stay loyal to you? You continued thinking, going through your morning routine of washing your face, and cleaning your eye socket. It was healing, at least. There was a scab, but it would be alright. Would Gold be scared of your eye if you showed it to him? You began doubting yourself and him. You'd have to show him someday, but when? What if he left you, or mocked you?

You heard a childish giggle and a high-pitched mewl. You looked up into the mirror to see a cat-shaped figure floating in the bathtub behind curtains. It was much too small to be Mewtwo, and you didn't know any cat Pokémon who floated. Did Espeon count? Was Espeon a cat? You heard the mewing again and turned from the mirror to the figure in the tub. It made a loop in the air before rushing out to greet you, then teleported away.

You recognized the pink color and adorable face; Mew had come to reassure you. You smiled a bit to yourself; you could do this.

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Me: School's out so I'm going to update my stories now!  
Also me: SOMEHOW manages to waste time? Like I spend 5 minutes doing literally nothing and I look at the clock and 2 hours have passed.

It's breakfast time and I still need to eat 😔 I worked on this last night but I passed out halfway through so here's the other half in the morning lol

The Pokémon poll is still going!! The most-voted Pokémon is going to appear in either next chapter of the chapter afterwards, so stay tuned! The choices are:  
-Deerling  
-Aron  
-Shinx

Thank you!

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	28. Chapter 28

Sitting in your lap, munching away greedily at gems, Sableye was thinking. He looked to his brother and sisters, not minding how short he was in comparison. They were too busy watching, listening to in Incineroar's case, the battle. Everyone was at the gym, and Sapphire was down to her last Pokémon, but so was her opponent. Sableye wasn't paying attention at all. He let out a grunt as he thought back to the last encounter with The Man. The shattering of his gem was incredibly painful, and not only did he have to experience it, so did you. You were hurt because of him, but he was all you had. Hitmonchan and Togetic were pretty much an item, and Incineroar was kind of a loner. You only had this special bond with him, and he had to protect that. He held onto your arm, rubbing his face into your stomach, and chittered to himself. He needed to get revenge somehow.

"Hey bud, are you alright?" You rubbed the top of his head, ignoring the pain of him rubbing against your bruise. A small glimmer of a gem had started forming in his chest cavity, so your bruise had also been slowly healing. You figured a week should do it. "You're not sick, right?" All you got in response was a rough sound akin to a purr. You sighed, kissed the top of his head, and continued supporting Sapphire with your cheers.

It wasn't until later that you developed a sudden headache, and a voice in your head echoed, "don't keep me waiting." It didn't even sound like The Man, your parents' real child, anymore, but rather Mewtwo's voice.

Sableye seemed to feel it too, because he stopped purring and hissed angrily. In fact, all your Pokémon looked agitated. "Hey, uh, I'm gonna be right back. Not feeling too well." You shot the boys a sheepish smile.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Gold stood up, dusting off his shorts. "Let me come with you."

"I'm not-I don't think, uhm..." you trailed off. The Man wouldn't be happy if you brought him along, but surely then if something did happen, Gold could save you. "Let's go then." Sableye crawls up your arm and perches on your shoulder, as your other Pokémon follow you.

A few minutes into the walk, Gold strikes up conversation. "Are you really sick, or does it have something to do with Mewtwo? Either way I wasn't letting you go alone." He adds.

"Mewtwo." You grumble. "I'm technically not supposed to bring anyone with me, but he never shows up for real so he can't do anything. It's like he's just piloting The Man."

"Huh." He goes to put an arm around your shoulder, but notices Sableye already there and stops. "Why do you keep all your Pokémon out like this? It's more convenient to put them in balls for traveling."

"If they really wanted to stay in their PokéBalls, I think they'd let me know. It's much nicer to see the sights and stretch your legs, right?" You turn to look at him.

He blushes. You were so thoughtful and kind, even subconsciously. "You're right." He lets out his Typhlosion, who walks alongside Incineroar. Despite being a cold-hearted type, your blind Pokémon was warming up to the Johto starter.

Gold holds your hand.

After walking through a forest, you arrive at a cliffside with an abandoned mineshaft in it. Incineroar is sniffing the air, then pauses you with a hand. You don't argue with her, but instead you scan the area.

A voice from behind startles you. "What did I say about tag-alongs?" He feigns hurt, putting a hand over his heart. "Honestly, (Name), how can I expect a fair fight?"

"I'm not here to fight you, I'm here to protect her." Gold bravely steps in front of you. "I won't let you hurt her again."

The Man merely chuckles. "You're as brave as you are foolish." He snaps his fingers and an Ariados jumps down from the trees. It shoots webbing at Gold and his Typlosion, but Incineroar's incredible reflexes kick in and she uses her claws to cut it up before it can touch them. "Tch." The Man raises a hand, and a Lunatone also appears from the treeline. "You make things so difficult, young man. Why don't you try to mind your own business sometime?" Lunatone's eyes begin to glow and soon enough, Gold and his Typlosion start floating into the sky.

"Hey, put us down!" He yells, squirming around in the air.

With a compliant nod, The Man looks to his Lunatone and it puts the pair on the highest branch of a tall tree. "Now, where were we?"

You paled. There was no way Gold was getting down from that tree unless you fought for him. He was strung up by the back of his shirt, and poor Typlosion, afraid of heights, clung to the branch fearfully. "Incineroar, use fire punch!" Knowing exactly who to aim for, she listens then pounces for the Ariados from earlier. When she lands on nothing, she is confused. When she hears something crawling on bark to her left, she's quick to punch the Pokémon and faint it instantly. It dodged her attack by using its string to swing to the tree.

The Man seems to freeze a moment. "No, Lunatone, use Power Gem!" Rocks from the surrounding area rise and start flying towards Incineroar. However, her whiskers detect the vibrations in the air and she manages to dodge a couple, leaving her with most of her health.

"Quick, Incineroar, come back!" You call out. She would never be able to sense the silent Pokémon if it didn't need to walk to get anywhere, but who would you send out? Togetic wouldn't make it, Hitmonchan was a fighting type, which was good against rock types, but not psychic types. That left you with Sableye, but he was too injured for battle still. Well, at least you taught Hitmonchan a dark type move to the occasion, "Hitmonchan, get out there and use Throat Chop!"

He jumped out from behind you, rushing past Incineroar, before jumping up with a fist prepared. There was no throat to chop, like the move suggested, but it was just a name anyway. "Lunatone, return, Sylveon, use Moonblast." His voice is monotonous. Hitmonchan's punch goes through the Lunatone just as it disappears, and he punches the ground. Simply brushing it off, he looks for his new opponent, only to get hit in the face and sent flying.

"Hitmonchan!" You cry out, Togetic making fearful chirps beside you. He barks something and Togetic nods, jumping out to fight the ribbon Pokémon. She waves her finger at the Sylveon, then uses Discharge. It takes the hit, then returns with Iron Tail. Togetic can't move away in time, and faints.

If only you had a steel type, things could be going much better for you. Sableye watches as everyone grows weak and tired. He knew you weren't going to let him fight, but he had to do something. When Hitmonchan stands up and rushes towards the fairy Pokémon in revenge, Sableye makes his move. He leaps off your shoulder, dodging your pitiful attempt to catch him, and lunges for The Man. Hooking onto him with his claws, Sableye uses his teeth to rip off the mask hiding The Man. He looked a lot like your father, with a few features from his mother. His sclera were ink-black, as if possessed, and he bore the psychic type symbol of the eye on his forehead. It began to glow a bright lavender purple and he seemed to grow enraged. He grabbed Sableye, ripped him off his chest, and threw him into the abandoned mineshaft, where he limply rolled along the ground.

"SABLEYE!!" You yelled out. Despite Gold yelling to you that it was a trap, you knew you had to save your Pokémon. You knelt beside him and scooped him up.

"Ugh," The Man put a gloved hand to his face, and pulled it back to reveal blood. Sableye had left a deep gash to his cheek, and he didn't like that. "Lunatone," his voice sounded darker, and held a threatening tone. "Use Heal Block." He was going to prevent your Pokémon from healing. "Now Explode."

You whipped your head around to see the Moon shaped Pokémon hovering at the mouth of the mines before its body began to crack, and a loud boom erupted from its body. It didn't take long for rocks to start falling from the ceiling, and you screamed. As they began gathering around you, you knew you couldn't just stand there. You forced yourself to stand, and you stumbled through the darkening cave. You kept pushing forwards until finally it seemed to stop collapsing in on itself.

Sableye looked up at you weakly. In your arms, he could feel you breathing rapidly. He knew you couldn't see in the dark, but that didn't mean he couldn't see you, scared and on the verge of tears. That didn't stop you from trying to be brave for him. "Hello?! Can anyone hear me?!" You yelled. There had to be at least the width of a house or two in rock that separated you from the exit. "It's okay, buddy." He could hear your voice crack as you tried to suppress your pain and tears. You sat down against the wall of the mine, and set him in your lap so he lay against your stomach. "Someone will come for us." To him, it sounded like you were trying to reassure yourself more than him. He remained silent while you pet his head.

He felt awful. If he didn't break his gem trying to fight that Sylveon, you would've both been okay. If he hadn't been linked to you, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. If he didn't recklessly try to attack The Man just now, you could've been on the outside of this mine still, and probably winning. Why was he messing up so horribly? Did you even still love him anymore? You'd never gotten mad at him before, so he wouldn't be able to tell. He sucked at being your partner.

You deserved someone stronger than him, and smarter than him, and someone who could actually protect you. You deserved someone better than him. He looks to the right to see a little Aron staring curiously at the two of you.

\------------------------------------

What's this? A POV from Sableye? 😳 It may seem weird, but I promise it's important for later in the story.

There was a tie between Shinx and Aron, and I couldn't update until a third vote came in (or a fourth if they picked deerling) because this chapter would heavily depend on what Pokémon was going to appear. However, Aron won! I'm surprised not a lot of people voted though.

Aggron has a mega form, and between that and Sableye's sudden drop in self-worth, you guys should be able to tell where this is going 👀

I hope you guys enjoy! This chapter was longer than usual (not by much though lol, usually I'm struggling to reach my 1000 word goal but this time I got to 1500 easy!)

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay so like I lied when I said I had 29 chapters written, it's actually 28 and a half. I'm stupid AND a dummy, I know.

"What is it, Sableye?" You felt him shift on you. All you got in response was a whimper. You couldn't see anything, but you could still feel the ache in your legs and the dust that clung to the sweat on your body. You had also stepped on something and did something to your ankle. You're pretty sure you didn't sprain it or you would've been screaming or crying, but it felt stingingly numb and you didn't want to move it.

A something that sounded like a mix between a chirp and a mewl echoed from just a bit away from you. You weren't very educated in Pokémon sounds, but this one sounded small yet gravelly. Almost like a rock-type Pokémon would make, but much lighter. You heard it again. "Hello? Who's there?" You tried to stand up, but your foot hurt too much. Whoever was there must've been startled, and you could hear footsteps running away from you. "No, wait, come back!" You called, but it was no use.

Somewhere from outside, another explosion of some sort must've happened, because the ground beneath you shook, and some debris fell from the ceiling. You held Sableye closer. You were scared of both what was happening to your other Pokémon outside, Gold and his Typhlosion, and what was going to happen to you.

The tremors went on for about five minutes before they subsided. You listened for anything, but the rocks blocking your exit still made a barrier too thick to hear. Did something happen to your Pokémon? Were they trying to rescue you? Why did they give up? Did they think you were dead because they couldn't hear you? You had to send a message to someone that you were still alive, but how? And to who? You only had a really special bond with Sableye.

Hitmonchan! You'd raised him since he was a hatchling, surely your bond was close enough too? It had to be worth a shot. You relaxed your hold on Sableye before taking a deep breath. We're here. We're here. You repeated the message, hoping that he understood.

A half hour goes by. The cave is starting to feel cold. You and Sableye are both hungry, bellies rumbling, but there is nothing for you to eat.

Another twenty minutes go by, and Sableye had dozed off, whining in his sleep. You're glad you're not wearing a tank top and shorts. You had stuffed your Pokémon up your shirt to keep him warm, with his head poking out of the neck hole to breathe.

An hour goes by. You don't know how you've managed to sit in one spot for so long, nor lost your mind from boredom. It had been almost two hours since you tried to contact Hitmonchan, what was up? Your body has gone numb from sitting too long in the cold, almost numb enough to sleep...

You're about to pass out when an adrenaline rush hits you. You're not sure how or why, until you hear it; the sound of hundreds of stampeding feet. You probably would've screamed in shock if your throat wasn't dry. You weren't sure if this was a bunch of smaller Pokémon or one huge one you haven't heard about yet, but you weren't ready to find out. You stand up, the blood flow returning to your legs and making them feel like how carbonated drinks feel in your mouth. The prickly sensation kept you from moving.

Surprisingly, whatever stampede this was, it stopped at your feet. You heard the same chirp from earlier, which was echoed by several chirps of the same origin, just in different pitches, along with a few barks that sounded like there were bigger Pokémon among these smaller ones. Almost like they just stopped to greet you, they ran on ahead again, towards the mouth of the cave. Loud scraping and crunching sounded soon after. Whoever they were, they were trying to help you out!

"Thank you!" You cried to them, hearing a few scattered peeps in recognition. Sableye had woken up by now and was chittering excitedly, clinging to your shirt from the inside. You ended up helping him out of your shirt and onto your head, where he clung to your hair.

It wasn't long until light began peeking through the gaps in the rock, and your eyes began adjusting to the sudden brightness. The digging noises began to die down as the lighting got brighter, and soon enough there was an exit again. You looked to your saviors to see several Aron accompanied by half a dozen Lairons. "Thank-thank you guys so much, I was, you guys are amazing-" you began praising them. They smiled at you, happy to help, and began dispersing.

Gold had cut you off, "Dear Arceus, (NAME), I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!" He yelled. He was still in the tree. You were surprised he could stay up there that long without breaking the branch or ripping the back of his shirt. Typhlosion seemed to have passed out in fear. Poor thing.

Only one thing was missing. "Where are my Pokémon?" You called up to him.

He shrugged. "Incineroar took out all of The Man's Pokémon in some sort of rage, and didn't even stop when he feld in fear. She just began punching the wall oc rock blocking you in. Hitmonchan tried to help but they just suddenly stopped, like they gave up. It wasn't until later that Hitmonchan seemed to gain this new energy, but instead of trying to free you, he just picked up Togetic and ran off with Incineroar. That was at least an hour ago though, so who knows what happened." Gold explained what he saw. "They didn't even try to help me down!" He pouted.

Hitmonchan was the one to leave? He must've felt my message. "I mean, I can't help either." You began walking off.

"Hey, hey, hey! Come back!" He complained.

"I will! I'm finding my Pokémon, and then I'm getting help, you dork!" You waved him off and continued walking, hearing his 'I knew that!' before entering the forest. Once you reached the city, Wally spotted you and looked frantic beyond belief.

He raced towards you and didn't stop until he grabbed you into a hug. You didn't think you and Wally were personally close, as you never really spoke with him, but you were certainly going to change that soon, especially since he really seemed to care about you. Tears soaked your shirt as he began sobbing into your chest, "we were s-so worried-we thought you were-your Pokémon look-looked really-why weren't you with them? You were all missing-you and-"

You shushed him gently and pet the top of his head, hugging back. "I'm here now, right?" You felt him nod against you, and you pulled away, the large bruise on your body beginning to burn. "I promise I'll explain everything, but we need to get everyone together, including my Pokémon. Do you know where everyone went?"

He nodded again, and held your hand as the two of you ran through the streets. "Does that Aron have anything to do with it?"

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I felt like there wasn't enough friendship between you and Wally and it is VERY NECESSARY that you two develop a friendship before the story ends.

Speaking of story ending, I hope you like this cuz uhhhh we are probably not even halfway done 😳 I still have plans for you to go through Johto and befriend Crystal and Silver as well. And you'll need to visit Cameron so he doesn't think you're dead.

Also it's HEADCANON TIME!! You've probably noticed by now, but I never write Pokémon saying their names, but rather that they chitter, bark, mewl, etc. That's because I think Pokémon are just given names, but they actually speak kinda like real animals. Some of them can be taught to mimic human speech though, just very limited. Like Murkrow, and Chatot and mimic people. Also different Pokémon have different cries depending on size, shape, and typing. Sableye hisses and chitters because he's a small, gremlin-like Pokémon, while Lairons bark and growl because they're heavy, rock type Pokémon.

ANOTHER headcanon I have is that Pokémon can share feelings through a special bond with their trainers, but never thoughts/words. Like you and Sableye are so closely bonded that you can even sense when the other is in danger. Other Pokémon like with your Hitmonchan can sense your presence and feelings if you're trying to communicate. With Togetic, you don't have a strong bond, so you can't share with each other. You're working on Incineroar, and it's getting close to Hitmonchan's level, but you both have to be open to communication. A lot of Pokémon/humans can feel this bond through their heart, but in some cases, they feel it through something that pulls you together. You, reader, can feel it through your keystone eye. Sableye feels it in his chest gem/Sablenite, Hitmonchan feels it through his chest scar, and Incineroar also feels it through her eyes. She ends up feeling it in her belt too because reader's keystone is in there for the time being.

There are two ways to make this bond; the easier one is to raise a Pokémon from either a very young age or an egg. Your strongest bond will always be with your first Pokémon, or at least the first one you can treat respectfully. The second way is to go through some sort of event that strengthens your friendship, like with Incineroar, the two of you saved each other's lives.

You're welcome for the huge infodump :,) I'm sorry lmao

Peace ~ Mama Meh


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to edit this later when I get my shit together but like here's what I have of this chapter so far:

You burst through the doors of the Pokémon Center, cheeks wet with tears and eyes puffy. Hitmonchan and Incineroar turned towards you, looking tired and teary. You ran towards your beloved Pokémon and hugged them both tightly. "I-I-I've missed you guys," you hiccuped, "I was so-so scared..." Incineroar's purr was deep and rumbly, calming your nerves, while Hitmonchan hummed. "Where's-wh-where's Togetic?"

Hitmonchan rubbed his eyes and sobbed. He couldn't help but hug you back and bury his head into you for comfort. You were like a mother to him when he needed it.

Your first thought was that Togetic died, and Sableye squeaked in pain from the top of your head when the both of you felt your heart twist in guilt. "Your Togetic was in critical condition. She'll be alright, but she just needs to rest up here tonight." Nurse Joy was able to reassure you, and you slumped forwards in relief. You knew that the first thing you had to do was teach her some powerful moves, and somehow evolve her.

Incineroar snuffled and turned towards the little Aron that had followed you inside, smelling it's musty yet earthly scent. "He helped me get out of the cave, along with his friends and family." You turned towards the Aron, "thank you for all your help, but don't you want to go back home?" He walked closer to you. "You want to...stay with us?" He peered up at you, then let out a happy chirp. "Alright, but I have to help everyone else first. Aron seemed to understand as


End file.
